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The Remarkable Crusaders Roadshow

2011-07-07T01:25:00.000-07:00

The Crusaders are on the cusp of a remarkable piece of sporting history. Although I dislike the sporting cliché of "a journey", it really applies to the Crusaders as they have gone through this entire campaign, as many commentators have put it, playing away from home.

It does a disservice to the host unions to say that the Crusaders have had no home games because, like all teams, they had games that were designated home games. It would be more accurate to say they played all their games away from their home base in Christchurch as Nelson and Timaru are part of the Crusaders region and provided home-town support that was every bit as hostile and uncomfortable for the opposition as the average Christchurch punter could muster. Playing home games in Wellington against the Hurricanes was always a bit of risk and against the Chiefs in Napier was a potential banana skin. And the now celebrated festival of rugby at Twickenham where the Crusaders put on a stunning display that had the locals gasping. Adding to the excitement, the Sharks were not charitable enough for it to be a Crusaders benefit and ratcheted up the excitement to complete the celebration.

The Super 15 is truly a long competition. To put it in context, when it started, the Christ Church Cathedral still had a spire. Since then, the Crusaders have travelled more kilometres than any team in the history of Super rugby. And at the end of the round-robin competition they had third place in the bag and still had the highest point differential by quite a long way.

Along the way, there were times when it looked like the toll was too great. There were less than stellar performances against the Highlanders and the Cheetahs. Both those performances by the Highlanders and Cheetahs were excellent team performances where they took their chances and were able to put the Crusaders under pressure. There was even room for controversy with the loss to the Reds in Brisbane. Just when the Crusaders looked like they had the game won, a refereeing decision cost them the game. To be fair to Stu Dickinson, he did communicate "no hands" while the play was going on, but it did seem to be a strange decision. But perhaps the season was summed up by the first game back after the February earthquake.

The Warratahs had basically clobbered their opposition in the first two games and were sitting pretty with maximum points. They had also nilled the Rebels in the first game and beaten the eventual finalists the Reds. Against the Crusaders, they looked like they were playing well. They had two tries in the bag and the Crusaders didn't look in it. For the Crusaders, it looked like one bridge too far in what had been a hell two weeks. But the Crusaders came back and won comfortably in a game when it looked like the emotions may just overshadow the performance. It was also one of the games the Crusaders turned out in West Coast colours in tribute to the miners who died in the Pike River disaster.

In that game it took two magic moments from Robbie Fruean to turn the game. An intercept try from a telegraphed pass then two minutes later a try in the corner and suddenly the Warratahs were a beaten team. The following week, the Crusaders crushed the old foe, the Brumbies by a staggering 52-10 in a game where the highlight wasn't the tries but a try saving tackle by Robbie Fruean again. With the Crusaders way in front, he chased down Adam Ashley-Cooper and hauled him down five metres from the line and gained a turnover. If that wasn't season inspiring stuff, then I don't know what is.

As the season carried on, there was a mixture of clinical, grinding wins (Force, Stormers, Chiefs), sprinkled with the celebrations of rugby that the Crusaders and Sharks took to Twickenham. The forward pack took on the role of the toughest, hardest pack in the competition and the backs combined to fluidly finish moves. Once injuries started to mount, there were fears the wheels would fall off, but they still ground out wins. And as the season started to wind up to the climax, and injured players came back into the mix, the Crusaders started to find top gear again.

When Sean Maitland returned to the fray, the backs looked much sharper. He set up a try for Sonny Bill when nothing was on simply by good footwork. And when he ran away with an intercept in the semi final against the Stormers, the ball could not have been better presented to him if the player in question had run up to him with the ball on a silver tray and asked, "Will there be anything else Mr Maitland?" A fully fit Sean Maitland is a real threat to any team and I have a feeling, he is going to get better - much better.

So the journey is nearly at an end. After winning the first away semi-final in 12 years, the Crusaders enter this game as favourites. In their way, the Reds, who disposed of the Blues with a flourish that any one of the Three Musketeers would have been proud of. There is obvious danger men in Quade Cooper and Will Genia but to ignore the rest of the team and target only those two would be a huge mistake. The Crusaders are smarter than that and whatever happens on Saturday night it will have been a truly remarkable season. A chapter in sporting history awaits.

Aftershocks, Coffee Shops and Christchurch's Fattest Sparrows

2011-07-05T01:12:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago, most Christchurch residents were left saying "Oh no, not again!" I had literally sat back down at my desk and logged back in when the whole room shook violently. I simply picked up my bag and walked out, holding the door for a moment or two for the next person to come out. Once everyone was assembled outside, it became apparent that work was over for the day and unless you had a pressing reason for going back in, you should go home. Then two hours later, an even bigger shake struck. It felt like some giant being had grabbed hold of the house and was trying to shake it off the foundations. Power went out and so out came the battery powered radio. The kids entertained themselves with the iPod, while still sitting in the doorway to the study. As before power was soon restored and I could watch what was happening on TV.

Because the bigger of the two aftershocks was classified as 6.0 on the Richter Scale, most people the next day tried to go about their normal business as much as possible. With schools closed this was a bit tricky, but I did manage to treat my children to lunch at Pizza Carto which is their favourite eating place while still logging into my work PC. Wednesday, however, most schools were back and so was work.

In and around the Art Gallery, there is not too many places where coffee can be found - and one of them was closed for the week. This meant there was a choice between the only indoor one left or the outdoor one. This choice was further rendered academic when the only indoor one's espresso machine broke down leaving a morning coffee session outside in the middle of a Christchurch winter. Still we did have a lot of company in the form of some of the most well-fed sparrows I've seen in a while. In the last few months, I suppose sparrows have had rich pickings of left-over food in hastily abandoned cafes. The disadvantage for many of these obese sparrows is it they no longer resemble sparrows but characters in Angry Birds. They didn't look too worried though.

The following day my grandmother died in Wellington and all of a sudden what was a stressful week for the nerves became a stressful week for the emotions and it was still only Thursday. I kept mostly to myself that day and spent time in the garage working on a CD/DVD tower. Keeping busy was best.

Once Friday rolled around, the never-ending week was finally coming to an end. And mother nature had another say. At 4:20 a 4.5 shake rattled the Art Gallery. At that point, and I wasn't the only one, I shut down, picked up my bag and said "That's it - I've had enough this week!"

My tribute to Grandma

2011-06-26T01:05:00.000-07:00

On 16 June, my beloved Grandmother died. It came on top of what was already a very long and stressful week. Below is the tribute I wrote about her and delivered at her funeral yesterday.

Grandma

Hello everyone. I'm Kevin Field. I am the privileged oldest grandchild and I had Grandma all to myself for three and a half years. When I was a wee boy, I often wondered what people thought about this tall woman, striding rapidly into town with a gaggle of grandchildren struggling to keep up. For some reason, this thought stayed with me till I was a young adult and was put into perspective when I heard second hand, a quote from Don when walking with Barbara, "Slow down, you're not walking with your mother now".

I walked many places with Grandma. It would be the river side of Fitzgerald Ave if going to Cleveland Street or as most expeditions were, into town. We would normally visit the Farmers department store which always used to have the delicious smell of roast cashew and peanuts wafting through the store. Sometimes Grandma would even buy some roast cashews if I was really lucky. Sometimes there were hurried trips across town to Ballantyne's because a certain grandchild needed to go to the toilet and Ballantyne's was the only place he would go. No demands that this toilet is good enough, she just did it. That was Grandma. Even as a young fella, I thought she was kindest grandmother you could ever have. It seemed to me that during the regular visits to the Fitzgerald Ave house, we would be asking Grandma if we could take home any number of trinkets that we had discovered in the house or shed. And she would normally say yes.

Staying over at Grandma and Granddad's was special. There were National Geographic's for Africa - many about Africa; plenty to explore and always breakfast in bed. Toast and marmalade and the sweetest, nicest tea. Somehow, the way she made it was just the way I liked it. And there were always scones on Sunday for when more of the family gathered.

There were never any favourites with Grandma - we were all treated the same and that was with kindness. She was non-judgemental, even when the older grandchildren struggled to play Christmas day cricket with the younger grandchildren because they had headaches or if they turned up at Fitzgerald Ave with bleached hair.

The last time I saw Grandma was on 23 February and unlike 4 September, where Grandma was quite philosophical about her potential fate that day and was more concerned with the new dinner arrangements, she was worried about her Christchurch family and whether they were all right. I was pleased to be able to deliver that news.

I realise the last few months of her life were a bit confusing after moving first to Nelson and then to Wellington, but I am pleased the Wellington family had the chance to be with her and to spend time with her.

And even though her health deteriorated in her 90's, she still got to meet and get to know her seven great-grandchildren. I am pleased she was able to watch them at her house as they went about their routines, doing such things as scrubbing the bird bath, picking up apples or chasing the cat. I'm also grateful they got to know her as well.

So thank you Grandma. While I'm sad to say goodbye to you today, I'm happy to have had you in my life and that it was you who was that rock in my life.

One last thing. Ballantyne's had small children's toilets and that's why I had to go there.

Stress

2011-05-10T01:09:00.000-07:00

It was probably the most obvious news of the year. The front page of The Press with a story that Christchurch residents, according to a Southern Cross Healthcare Group survey, were the most stressed in the country. There were a number of other categories such as the amount of alcohol drunk per region, the amount of fruit and vegetables eaten and the number of residents who smoked. Ironically Christchurch residents were the most satisfied with the amount of sleep they got per night. Even more remarkable considering that the vast majority of Christchurch people would have been awake when this morning's edition of The Press was on the printing presses thanks to a 3:00 am 5.3 wakeup call.

The stress that people are suffering goes way beyond just anxiety over aftershocks. There are the normal things such as job losses, business failures, money worries but there are also the other stresses with the damage and losses of homes, dealing with insurance companies and EQC, the loss of the central city and the worry that there may be more to come. Not to mention the suspicion that the Christchurch rebuild is only going to satisfy politicians and won't reflect anything that residents want to see.

For many people, the stress is so over and above what they would normally experience, that they are displaying symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome. And often it is people who fall into the category of a "strong person". It's as if an earthquake is too far out of their area of control that coping with them becomes difficult. You can't blame anyone for feeling this way because of the terrifying and unpredictable nature of earthquakes are fertile pasture for feelings of fear and anxiety.

Some of the methods of dealing with stress are simple. One of the best ones is breathing. Often during aftershocks that is the first thing that people forget to do and they end up hyperventilating whereas what is required is slow, measured breaths. Other techniques are going through a small routine of checking everything and everyone is all right, listening to soothing music, putting on a favourite item of clothing or accessory or just going to your happy place.

Even though this survey pointed out the bleeding obvious, it also suggests that if this is a regular survey that some of the categories may change, but Christchurch people are going to be the most stressed New Zealanders for a while to come.

Christchurch Ideas

2011-04-20T03:39:00.000-07:00

Since the first earthquake on 4 September, the term "Christchurch Rebuild" has been used quite liberally by both the media and local politicians. Following the first earthquake it seemed a little ludicrous to describe repairing the damage and demolishing about 90 buildings within the four avenues could be called rebuilding Christchurch, as the vast majority of the buildings in that area were perfectly fine. A better question would have been "What would be prudent to do with this vacant area?". An even better question would have been "Should we move a little west?". The debate around these questions became irrelevant on 22 February.

That was when those questions tool on real relevance. Many buildings completely collapsed, terrible loss of life. The Minister of Earthquakes being quoted on his preference to tear down many of these older buildings. The shutdown of the CBD and the eeriness of the pictures and videos showing badly damaged and deserted streets of a place we all knew so well. The reality that what was there will no longer be there. This was not limited to old brick buildings, but many so-called modern buildings. Many of these will have to go. A few hotels, the BDO Spicer building down Victoria Street, the Clarendon Towers and the now infamous Grand Chancellor.

So it is now a given that there will be mass rebuilding, but before any grand plans are drawn up, there are a few facts that need to be considered. One is a lot of people will not go back into the CBD let alone a high rise building. Another is that no matter what the politicians say, the actual CBD of Christchurch has already marched west into Addington, Riccarton and Hornby. Many of those business are likely to stay there for the foreseeable future. It is also possible that the planners will have to think that Christchurch will be the first city in New Zealand to have a "old town" quarter, much like many European cities. With that in mind, will it be better to design around that idea? As events since the February earthquake have illustrated, it's entirely possible that what was central Christchurch may become one of the more eastern parts of the city if suburbs such as Burwood, Dallington, Shirley and Bexley become deserted.

What should central Christchurch look like? Should any ideas of attracting businesses be abandoned and design more along the lines of Oxford Street and the West End in London? Should there be some more concise acknowledgement of the history of the city? Why not have a French Quarter of the city much like New Orleans. The French did after all, have history in Canterbury. And while we're at it, what would Maori architects come up with if they had to design a Maori Quarter to acknowledge the original settlers of the area? An area similar to the West End? A retail triangle with Ballantynes as the centre and covering High Street, Cashel Street and parts of Colombo Street?

Whatever happens with this design, Christchurch residents need to put their hands up and contribute. Christchurch has that rare luxury in cities that there is plenty of space, in fact, it's the only major New Zealand that can shift inland a bit. So while it's pretty much rest assured that iconic structures such as the Cathedral and the Arts Centre will be rebuilt, those gaps in the city blocks will need to reflect not only the best way to rebuild in earthquake damaged areas, but also to start a new heritage.

Our Favourite Places

2011-04-09T03:50:00.001-07:00

People who live in cities have them. Their favourite places. Might be a favourite shop. Might be a favourite cafe. Might be a favourite venue. Might be a favourite pub. Tonight in Christchurch, many people's favourite pub was demolished.

To be fair anyone who saw The Carlton following the 22 February earthquake would have thought it was only a matter of time before it was demolished. There was a gaping hole on the east side wall. There were also braces holding up the south side wall. The future didn't look rosy for The Carlton. However, this was where New Zealand's first tap beer was poured. It had occupied the same spot for over 105 years, which by New Zealand standards, is an exceptionally long time. It also introduced that much beloved pub feature, the beer garden to New Zealand. The first drive through bottle store was also at The Carlton.

To anyone who has lived in Christchurch, they would know The Carlton. It stood on the corner of Bealey Ave and Papanui Road like a sentinel. It has always looked welcoming. It is the pub that has had probably more regulars than any other New Zealand pub. There were groups of old men who had met there every Friday for drinks since their student days. For a while there you could see bands playing there until it was restored back to the original building. Just about anyone who has ever been to a pub in Christchurch, would have spent time in The Carlton. Many people are going to mourn the passing of this part of the city.

Regretfully, the demolition of The Carlton, only re-emphasises the point that this is only one of many favoured places in Christchurch that will face the wrecking ball. All but one of the churches within the four avenues have either been destroyed or badly damaged. To put it in some context, compared to the rest of the churches, the Cathedral got off lightly. There are other buildings around Christchurch that haven't survived such as the ANZ building on the corner of High Street and Lichfield street which was completely destroyed during the earthquake. Buildings further down High Street have had significant damage and it seems unlikely they will survive. Much of Manchester Street and Colombo Street have been demolished already. Many people's favourite restaurants were in these areas.

In the end, it's all brick and mortar. It can be rebuilt. What can't be rebuilt are the lives that have been lost or shattered by the earthquake. But as people start looking for signs of normality, the news that some of those favourite places have moved to new premises, brings an elation beyond what could normally be expected. In the last week, I have seen Scorpio Books, the best bookshop in the city, getting ready to re-open down Riccarton Road - just down the road from my place. The Children's Bookshop is re-opening down Blenheim Road at Blenheim Square and it's looking increasingly likely that Alice in Videoland will be re-opening soon. And while it doesn't sound like much, the survival of those favourite places in a city where everything is anything but normal, is just the tonic to spur the population on.

Alarms, Sirens and Choppers at Dawn

2011-04-03T00:48:00.000-07:00

In the last few days, Radio New Zealand released audio of a Christchurch reporter Bridget Mills, conducting an interview with someone in Libya. She all of a sudden exclaims "Big earthquake", with "Shit" thrown in a few times. Almost amazingly, she had the presence of mind to come back to the phone to apologise for the abrupt end to the interview. We listened to this at work and then to some of the initial reports from the Radio New Zealand website. Listening to those initial reports on the ground brought a lot of it back for me.

The initial thing for me straight after the earthquake was the chorus of alarms. It seemed that every building in the city's alarm was activated. It was briefly eclipsed by the rumble of the severe aftershock about 15 minutes after the main quake and the screams of people standing around, not sure what to do next. Many of those reports had those alarms going in the background.

As people left the central city, there were more sounds to remind us all that all was not well. There were more sirens than normal and more helicopters. Later on in the afternoon while walking the dog, I saw a helicopter flying very low over the Riccarton Mall. Almost as if it was doing a spot check from the air, looking for anything with obvious damage. Early the next morning a new sound that we all started to get used to - Iroquois helicopters flying low over the city. Iroquois have a very distinctive sound compared to other helicopters so it wasn't hard to tell when one was around. In fact Christchurch residents could be forgiven for mistaking Christchurch as the scene of a Vietnam War movie, that was how often they were flying around.

Sounds trigger memories and for many people, they are going to be transported back to that day every time they hear a building alarm.

The Role of Sport for a Disaster Zone

2011-03-29T01:05:00.000-07:00

One of the most inspiring stories from last year was the Superbowl victory for the New Orleans Saints. Unless you were under a rock for the last few years, practically everyone on the planet within earshot of a radio would have been aware of the devastation wrought on New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. There was a quote from Drew Brees, the New Orleans quarterback. "We just believed in ourselves and we knew that we had an entire city and maybe an entire country behind us," said Brees, the game's MVP. "What can I say? I tried to imagine what this moment would be like for a long time, and it's better than expected." Try the entire world behind you Drew. Not only were the Saints the underdogs, but many people around the world wanted something special for residents of New Orleans.

Remember the Rugby World Cup in 1995. The All Blacks ruled supreme for the initial parts of the tournament but came unstuck in the final against the hosts. Now it could be argued that food poisoning had its role, but that would be insulting to the host nation, who played like it wasn't just a rugby game, but a symbol of the new South Africa. A nation prepared to embrace all of its citizens. In truth, though it hurt as a New Zealander, it was far more important for South Africa as a nation to win and to show the world, Francois Pienaar holding aloft the trophy with a jubilant Nelson Mandela applauding in the background. In New Zealand, it would have just been an empty cup, to quote Doc Hudson.

So exactly five weeks on from the Christchurch earthquake, Canterbury people have something to look at and cheer for. Although they haven't played in Christchurch yet, or will for the remainder of the season, the Crusaders are putting a big smile on our faces. Not only are they winning, they are winning in style. There is even talk of them being the greatest Super Rugby side ever. They have just played the Sharks in London and have been exciting not only the home fans, but the expat population and even the Northern Hemisphere media.

Add to that the Black Caps bundling out the Cricket World Cup favourites unexpectedly and now through to the semi finals where they play Sri Lanka tonight, then you can have many things to smile about. Especially as they have been written off already by Cricinfo. They have already done better than expected and anything more they do will be awesome.

So how does having a winning team help people in a disaster zone? It's not going to help people build homes or save businesses. It's not going to help rebuild infrastructure or even more poignantly, bring back loved ones. But it will provide a distraction and a happy one at that. And even though many Christchurch people will not see the Crusaders play this year, they will provide a boost to morale, which is extremely low at the moment. So while we grapple with what has become our new normal, we can pause and appreciate that our team is doing its part in our regions recovery. That is inspiring for us all.

Is it Time to Bring Back the Ministry of Works?

2011-03-24T01:04:00.000-07:00

Alice in Videoland is one of the most beloved of all central Christchurch businesses. The reasons are pretty clear once you get there. It's a world class collection of movies that is available to all members. It would easily be the best video store in New Zealand if not Australasia. In fact it would be hard to find a better video store anywhere. Last year I embarked on an epic journey of trying to watch a classic movie per week from Alice's. I generally seemed to stick to Kurosawa movies, but even though I fell into the trap of sticking to a genre I liked, there were heaps of Kurosawa movies to choose from week after week.

One of the frustrating things for the movie lovers of Christchurch at the moment, is it looks like all the Alice's staff have to do, is pick up the DVD's off the floor and put them back on the shelf. They could then carry on trading. The problem is many buildings around that area have been destroyed and it is in the cordon zone. However, the building Alice's is in, looks completely unscathed.

Part of the reason may be that Alice's building used to be the High Street Post Office and it was built following the Napier earthquake by the Ministry of Works. The Ministry of Works had a high reputation for not only having world class engineers as staff, but also for over-engineering their projects so they didn't only meet the building codes of the time, but met the standards set by the Ministry of Works. Many projects done by the Ministry of Works have been true engineering wonders.

The Ministry of Works still exists in some form as Works Infrastructure. The MOW was split apart with some becoming Works Infrastructure and the rest going to Opus. So now Works Infrastructure competes on the open market for projects. And there will be compromises that have to be made on the open market.

My own earthquake experience in a Ministry of Works built building has given me food for thought. With so much reconstruction needed, shouldn't we employ the best? And if that is the case, shouldn't we be the best again? No privately run company could possibly carry out the scale of reconstruction needed in Christchurch at the moment so why not have a Ministry of Works who get a similar budget to roading to carry out much of this work. Then in 80 to 100 years when Christchurch next has an earthquake there will be a lot more buildings standing intact around the Alice in Videoland building. And that generation of people will be grateful for the Ministry of Works.

March the 20th of 2011

2011-03-19T01:10:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should do this. Because tomorrow I may not be here. I may be crushed under some building. If the predicated massive earthquake in Canterbury happens.

I'll be the first to admit. If I'm lying buried under rubble tomorrow, I'll be slapping my head (if I can reach it) and saying "Shit, shit, shit". And I'll be gutted that Ken Ring was right. I will be kicking myself as well as I wouldn't have changed anything I regularly do - as if anyone in Christchurch is doing what they regularly do at the moment. Because of my stubborn intention to not change anything I might do, I'm not expecting anything out of our current ordinary to change drastically.

However, I'll go out on a limb. I predict we will have an aftershock tomorrow. I also predict that I may put in a case for a new mountain bike given the current topography of Christchurch roads and bike tracks. I also predict that I may finish my book. I'm also predicting that I still won't know where I'm supposed to turn up to work on Monday.

I don't think Ken Ring fully understood the affect his prediction would have had. He just spouted off the date of when it would happen quite knowingly. To be fair to him, that was after the 4 September earthquake, where no lives had been lost. Things have changed drastically since then. Any smugness that we had all survived a massive earthquake has well and truly been smashed. I don't think the 4 September t-shirts will be worn for a while. There certainly will be no market for surviving 22 February t-shirts.

Many people are so terrified they will take any prediction as certainty. Others are leaving town, just to be sure. It is after all, around the time a big aftershock is expected. Prior to 22 February, a big aftershock was expected every four to five weeks. It is nearly four weeks since the 6.3 earthquake. I have neighbours who have taken off to Auckland for the weekend and when I spoke to one of them as we went to school to pick up our children, she had family pressure to leave town for a bit. As we talked about it more, she conceded that she knew the science and didn't really believe in the prediction. But even as a non-believer in the Ken Ring prediction, nobody can condemn anybody who wants to get out of town for the weekend. Just to be sure.

The city's morale is low. Many are terrified. A great many of us in Christchurch have had loss. Christchurch is a small place. You do not have to look through the list of people who died long to see someone you know. Personally I've seen four names - two of those people I knew well enough to talk to. You can be talking within a small group of people and inevitably someone will say something like their wife's cousin was killed in the earthquake.

In a disaster, people generally revert to a state similar to someone in shock. This condition is detailed in Naomi Klein's book "The Shock Doctrine". What her point is in the book is many governments usually push through unpopular reforms at this time, or they take advantage of the lapse in attention of the population to redevelop areas devastated by a disaster to a standard demanded by their campaign contributors. At this stage many Christchurch people are in that shocked state. What may seem absurd, now seems like reason.

What it really comes down to is if anyone chose to leave town this weekend, who would blame them given our mental states at the moment. If I'm under trapped under something tomorrow, I will probably consider them visionary.

The Rugby World Cup in Christchurch

2011-03-16T00:27:00.001-07:00

It was the news many Canterbury rugby fans dreaded - the Rugby World Cup games have been removed from AMI Stadium. The only consolation I can think of is at least the decision was made quickly and now we don't have to fret about hosting 20,000 odd people in a city that lost at least half if not more of its hotel beds following the earthquake.

On 22 February, the question of RWC games being played in Christchurch was raised. Like many, at the time, I didn't care. The Rugby World Cup was in the words of Doc Hudson "an empty cup". It didn't matter and neither did rugby. Lives had been lost and more parts of Christchurch were badly damaged. For a few days it was a non-issue. The Rugby World Cup didn't matter. Slowly, but surely the question started to be raised some more. I felt that it was still a non-issue. But my feelings changed on 4 March when the Crusaders played the Warratahs in Nelson. I watched this more out of habit than any maddening desire to follow the Crusaders. I was also worried there would be too much emotion and the Crusaders would be crushed, especially as the Warratahs had been pretty ruthless in disposing of their first two opponents. And it looked that way for most of the first half until the Crusaders mounted a comeback and basically belted the Warratahs.

If you are looking for something positive to give you a lift when you are down, then the Crusaders are a pretty sure bet. They win far more than they lose and they usually put on a pretty clinical show. This Crusaders team has the potential to be the best one ever. There were people talking about something else apart from earthquakes all of a sudden. Now there was something to look forward to and sure enough, the next weekend, the Crusaders belted their traditional foe 52-10 in Nelson. If they can go on and win the competition, it would be a phenomenal achievement as they would not have played any games at their normal home.

With that in mind, my feelings on the RWC games are they should not have been taken away. When in a disaster zone, you need things to look forward to and the problems associated with AMI stadium were certainly not insurmountable. Accommodation could have been handled. Team facilities could have been handled. It could have been a goal for the people of Christchurch to look forward to, much like the Mardi Gras in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. And the worst bit? We would have pulled it off.

Earthquakes both here and abroad

2011-03-14T02:07:00.000-07:00

Dr Mark Quigley may be the most respected New Zealander in the country at the moment. As a nation, we tend to like the no bullshit, matter-of-fact type characters that don't pull the wool over our eyes. That could explain why Willie Apiata consistently appears at the top of the most respected New Zealander list despite the fact that he is in the SAS and is supposed to be on secret missions.

Many Cantabrian's have found solace in Mark's easy to understand explanations of what has happened and have appreciated his no bullshit approach. His public lectures could have made him a rich man and instead of having curtain raisers at the rugby, the Canterbury Rugby Union could have used him to deliver one of his lectures. Could have boosted ticket sales.

We all knew that the news of 22 February would be tomorrows fish and chip paper, but who knew what would happen in Japan? With everything so raw for us, all of a sudden a country that New Zealand has quite a close relationship, suffers an unimaginable catastrophe. All the more considering the Japanese search and rescue teams worked so hard while here and the huge Japanese media interest in the 22 February earthquake. While it was humbling to discover how many friends around the world New Zealand has, I would rather that we didn't have to repay friendship so quickly.

Many of us in New Zealand are asking, "is there a link between what is happening here and what is happening in Japan?" The answer is probably not even though in Canterbury we are on the same tectonic plate that caused the mega thrust earthquake in Japan.

So witnessing the absolute power that Mother Nature can unleash on us is scary, it's perhaps pertinent to remind ourselves that we don't own this planet. We are residents and we have to ride out what our home throws at us. Even if we are really well prepared, as Japan is, there is only so much you can do when a mega thrust earthquake occurs and in Japan's case, the tsunami's that can accompany them. I don't think that anyone who saw those images of the black water surging through towns, carrying cars, planes, ships along for the ride, will ever forget the relentless power of a tsunami.

Mark Quigley is again being sought after for his explanations. On Campbell Live on TV3, he again, was able explain, simply, what had happened in Japan and define to the best of the knowledge he had, what was happening here. And while Cantabrians may understand exactly what he is talking about now, whereas many other Kiwi's scratch their heads, Mark Quigley has provided much needed answers to some pretty important questions. It all adds to my theory that many of the successors to Mark Quigley and his generation of geologists, are going to come from the Canterbury region.

A Word About Aftershocks

2011-03-09T01:26:00.000-08:00

The 4th of September 2010 at 4:35 am turned many people in Canterbury's lives around. It's epicentre was very near a place called Charing Cross, which unlike its London namesake, is hardly a bustling centre of activity, even though it's an intersection of six roads. The nearest towns are Darfield, Kirwee and West Melton. It's roughly halfway between Darfield and Burnham Military Camp. It's roughly 40 km's from where I live in Christchurch and unusually for New Zealand, the road distance is not much longer than the distance a harrier might fly to get there.

When we were all awoken that morning, Canterbury residents got a crash course on what it's like to live in a quake zone. Pretty soon the reason why so many Canterbury residents struggled to get a good nights sleep for the next few weeks made its presence felt. Aftershocks. There were several big ones following the main quake. All were preceded by the ominous rumble. Something that worried us all was the geologists saying there is always a large aftershock one magnitude unit less than the main quake.

The Wednesday following the earthquake there was a particularly nasty aftershock. It had us running for the door frames. After it finished, I breathed a sigh of relief. "There's our big aftershock", I told the family. But no. It was 5.1 on the Richter Scale. That was a lesson in proximity and depth of an earthquake.

As the months went past, so did the threat of a large aftershock. We were told to expect a magnitude 5 or more aftershock every four or five weeks. While we were in Auckland, Christchurch had a 5.1 aftershock. About five weeks after that, we had the deadly 6.3 aftershock. It started its own aftershock cycle. Only 15 minutes afterwards, a 5.7 aftershock hit the city. This one on its own was bigger than any of the aftershocks following the September earthquake. Mid afternoon, another one struck, this time 5.5 but very frightening.

The September earthquake and the February aftershock have been frightening enough, but for the hours, days, months afterwards, peoples anxiety levels are high. Some people outwardly are quite relaxed about aftershocks whereas others find them difficult to cope with. When I say difficult, I mean they can be absolutely hysterical when they strike.

I probably fall into the relaxed category with aftershocks, but that doesn't mean that I'm not anxious over them. After six months, my heart pounds and I hold my breath when I hear the familiar rumble. As I write, a 3.7 aftershock struck and even though it's relatively small, it was quite sharp. Half an hour later, I've finally calmed down.

There's been about 5000 aftershocks since September. Don't know for how long they are going to go on for.

Hand Sanitiser

2011-03-07T22:53:00.000-08:00

You all know the stuff. If you visit elderly relatives in rest homes, you'll see it by the door. If you are in a hospital during a norovirus outbreak, you'll be familiar with it. If you have some obsessive, compulsive workmates, you'll know what the stuff in the pump bottle is. If you're in a disaster zone, you'll be smothered in the fucking stuff day in, day out. Everyone getting the idea where this is going?

In Christchurch many of us are missing the simple things. To flush the toilet everytime you wee. To flush the toilet full stop. To use a toilet instead of an upturned bucket with a hole cut in the bottom. To turn on a tap and drink straight from it (a real Christchurch experience). To water the garden. To switch on a light, though many more of us can now do that. To wash your hands with soap and water.

I'm starting to resent hand sanitiser. I can't put my finger on it. It's smell doesn't particularly offend me. The feel of it doesn't worry me. I even think it's cool the way you don't have to dry your hands. It's really what it represents. We are in a disaster zone and there are further bad things out to get us. In a nutshell. The habits that passed for hand hygiene, usually a quick exposure to water, are no longer good enough. Now the water that you have washed with has probably made you more toxic than before you showered. It now means that on every desk, around every corner, there's a bottle of the stuff. I've found if I haven't used any for 10 minutes, I'm worried I have picked up God knows how many goobies from the other unwashed barbarians. Who knows what they have been doing? Using long drops. Eating unprepared chicken. Or maybe they "showered" in Christchurch water. Add in the unwritten rule in Christchurch at the moment about not asking/telling about personal hygiene and you start to get the picture. There is only one way to guarantee you won't get dysentery - hand sanitiser! Before every meal; during every meal; in every meal.

Let's be honest. In a normal world hand sanitiser belongs at the doors of old peoples' homes, hospitals and the desks of obsessive, compulsive work colleagues. May it gather dust in the supermarkets along with bottled water when things turn to normal.

Otherwise, as well as some kick-arse geologists, Canterbury will produce the most obsessive, compulsive population in the country if not the world.

The Lonely Car

2011-03-04T23:34:00.001-08:00

For those of us who have entered the currently cordoned off area of Christchurch central city, they would be familiar with a dark blue Mitsubishi Galant parked on the side of the road. Nothing remarkable about the car except for one thing. It is the only car parked on that stretch of road till you get over the river. The other thing is it is still sitting in silt up to its wheel rims whereas Montreal Street has almost been completely cleared of silt. And yet, like a preserved section of the Berlin Wall, this car is telling a story. It gives a snapshot of what Montreal Street must have looked like with about 20-30 cm of silt across it. It also shows what people had to do to get their cars out and moving. But it tells another, more poignant story - where is the driver.

Each day when I walked past, I thought of this. Has the driver simply fled town? Did they get a lift home with someone else and haven't returned because of the cordon? Did they simply walk home and not return because of the cordon? Are they injured in hospital? Or are they never going to pick up their car? I would like to think the earlier scenarios would be true, but I suspect it's one of the last two.

The cordon surrounding the central city will be partially lifted tomorrow at 8:00am. This will allow people who have their cars in the green zones to pick up their cars. And it means people in that zone can return to their workplaces to retrieve vital equipment providing their workplaces can be entered. In many cases as well as keys, they will also need crowbars.

For those who enter the cordon via Montreal Street, I hope they see a dark blue Mitsubishi being dug out of silt by friends while the driver tries again to get it out of the quagmire. And then never notice that dark blue Mitsubishi again.

How Will All This Be Remembered?

2011-03-03T00:59:00.001-08:00

I was only a wee fella when the two great disasters of 1968 happened. The Wahine sinking and the Inangahua earthquake. I do remember my dad showing me the cracks in the walls following that earthquake, but as I slept through it, I don't remember the quake itself. Those cracks remained in the house for the rest of the time we lived there.

Apart from the odd snowfall and some flooding, the only thing that got close to a disaster for me when growing up was "The Big Blow" of 1 August 1975. I was nine at the time and looking out our window over the road from the petrol station on Riccarton Road (now McDonald's), we saw a boy trying to walk into the wind but not making much progress. Some workmen on the petrol station trying to climb a ladder and after about three rungs, deciding to call it quits. The trees in Deans Bush bending over. Following that there was a torrential downpour but the whole thing was over by mid afternoon.

My children were woken up violently on 4 September 2010 by the 7.1 earthquake. They saw the aftermath and some of the wrecked buildings. They also dashed outside on 26 December 2010 with the infamous Boxing Day earthquake, that although it was only 4.9 on the Richter scale, provided a potent reminder to the danger of localised and shallow events. They will accurately remember the aftershock that shook the car as it stood parked outside Alice's Video. Then there was 22 February 2011.

In the distant years to come, they will relate their own experiences of that day to their descendants. My son will tell about how he was on a chain bridge and he raced to the open field away from the buildings. He will also tell how his cousin, who was also on the chain bridge, stayed where he was; still playing.

My daughter will tell how she dived under her desk as she was having lunch in the classroom. She still had her chocolate chip cookie to go as she was saving it for last. She will also remember how a lot of her friends were petrified by what had happened, but she remained calm.

They may also be able to relate to their descendants my own story of being thrown off my feet and diving under a table. Then emerging to seeing a cloud of dust rising from the city in roughly a grid pattern. Seeing a small girl being carried to hospital by three men. Jumping into the middle of the road when the biggest aftershock happened. Walking through broken and creased roads where the curb was separated from the footpath and silt volcanoes were bubbling up. Of buildings, now just heaps of rubble. No doubt with trapped and dying people inside. Of picking a wee boy up and helping him over a large silt volcano so he could keep up with his mum. The walk across Hagley Park and the wind and drizzle sweeping across, making me wish that I had my jacket instead of a hot chocolate stained shirt.

What I hope my children can tell their own families is this was a point in our city where we made the correct decisions. Where we created a sustainable city. How we honoured our heritage and honoured those that died. Why we are held up as a shining example of rebuilding a city. Why Christchurch is a great place to live.

A Tale of Two Cities

2011-03-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. My very basic knowledge of Charles Dickens finishes at that point. However, since 4 September and more poignantly, since 22 February, this has become the story of Christchurch.

There is a line in Hagley Park where the ground rises. It looks like a hump in the ground except it keeps going to the edge of the park. I'm not sure of terminology, but if you look at Christchurch as a relief map, it looks a little like waves radiating out from the Canterbury Plains. What this means is the Canterbury Plains gradually slope up to the Southern Alps. What is a particularly striking feature of this rise in Hagley Park, is this seems to mark the point where the destruction and liquefaction of the city comes to an abrupt halt. When you enter Hagley Park from the town end, there is masses of silt lying over the fields and two uprooted trees. When you get about halfway across, it looks like nothing has happened.

That doesn't mean there was no liquefaction beyond this point. Around waterways and in small pockets, there is piles of silt, but nowhere the amount that has occurred to the east of this line. It also doesn't mean that everything is 100% to the west of this line. Only 50 metres from the exit at the Riccarton roundabout is a second hand book shop that collapsed and claimed a life.

However when you speak to most people, the damage they have experienced to their homes is nowhere the scale of destruction suffered by people in the eastern suburbs. So while people in Riccarton, most of Fendalton, Burnside, Hornby, Papanui have power, water and most can even flush toilets; people in Aranui, Dallington, Burwood, New Brighton, Bexley and Shirley are lining up in the streets for water, unable to cook and using portaloos.

In fact, it's reached the point where people, like the woman I met while walking the dog tonight, will say "No we're fine. No damage apart from the wall we lost, but nothing compared to people on the east side of the city. Here we are walking our dogs while they hunker down for another night". Most people in western suburbs when you ask, will just say "No damage", and shake their heads in disbelief. People who have lost their houses, might not respond directly but say instead, "We're staying with relatives". Even those who have lost their homes and have only the clothes they stand in, are taking stock, and are thankful they and their family are in one piece.

In this disaster there has been talk about the heroes. There have been tales of ordinary folk throwing aside pieces of masonry to free victims. Firefighters climbing rubble to get to people. Search and rescue crawling through gaps to find survivors. Police and army working tirelessly to ensure people stay safe. The Student Army, the Baking Army, the Rangiora Earthquake Express. I'll add to those, people who have lost their homes and can still smile or even remain positive. They are genuine heroes. Whenever I've heard interviews with these people, the only thing that has annoyed them has been the rubber-neckers - just out for a look around.

I'm not a rubber-necker so I will never venture to the eastern suburbs just to see what has happened. I would go there to help a friend.

From Silence Comes Strength

2011-02-28T23:31:00.000-08:00

It was only last December that we last did this. Stood in silence as a nation to remember those who had died. It was for the Pike River and at the time, it seemed incomprehensible that there was a death toll of 29. The Cathedral bells in Christchurch rang for each of those miners - just people going about their jobs when something happened. At my workplace at the Christchurch City Council, we stopped and stood as one. Many emotional and disbelieving people. "How could this happen?" We stood as one for our West Coast whanau. The raw, emotional power of standing in silence in honour of your fallen brothers and sisters. They could have been people you met in the Nelson Creek pub. You could have spoken to one of them when visiting Greymouth. You could have joked and laughed with them in a Blackball Street. The West Coast has the reputation for some of the friendliest people you could ever meet anywhere in the world. It wasn't fair.

The two minute silence was a way for many New Zealanders to say to the West Coast "We are all Coasters and you are New Zealanders. We are with you and we share your grief". For the Coasters who attended the memorial service to know that, would have felt comforting.

When discussing Pike River with friends, family and work colleagues, we felt compelled to compare it directly to our own experiences with the 4 September earthquake. I felt, as many others did, that we were lucky. Nobody died, it was only bricks and mortar, and because Pike River had a high death toll, those communities would find it difficult to overcome this tragedy.

One week ago, our own tragedy happened. For those who were in the central city at that time, they would have all known that a tragedy of huge proportions had occurred. The luck we had with the first earthquake had run out. As the death toll rose and the names started appearing, we started to recognise these people who have died. The enormity of what has happened started to sink in.

Today there was two minutes silence for the victims of the 22 February earthquake. All I can think of when I see the images, is what strength those of us who are struggling to deal with this can gain, knowing that our fellow Kiwi's and Aussies and citizens of the world, who are probably desperate to help in any way they can, are giving us.

To all of you. Thank you. You give me strength to deal with tomorrow. And the next day.

Kia Ora.

Another Day We Won't Forget

2011-02-21T23:43:00.000-08:00

When Cyclone Yasi struck Northern Queensland, much of the discussion around Christchurch was, "What would be worse? A cyclone or an earthquake?". Almost overwhelmingly the answer was a cyclone. The relentless force of a cyclone. The lethal force of flooding. Until today.

Today Christchurch residents were given a sharp reminder from 4 September. The suddenness, the ferocity and the sheer unpredictable nature of earthquakes.

I was in the work lunchroom on the fifth floor of the Christchurch City Council Civic building when the quake struck. That familiar deafening roar and shake. I dived under a table and wore a hot chocolate on the way down. There were some screams and people dropping to the ground where they stood. I held on under the table alongside a man I'm sure I saw at the Leonard Cohen concert. The shake was not as long as the 4 September shake, but far more intense. Once safe, everyone emerged.

The first thing I heard was someone saying "Look at our city!" And it was a sickening sight. Clouds of dust were rising up from the streets in a grid pattern, obscuring the lower buildings and surrounding the taller buildings. Never seen anything like it before - on TV or in person. From there the evacuation alarm went off and like most people, I went straight for the stairwell, ignoring my cell phone on my desk. I passed one person tending to a cut on her leg as she walked down due to the windows at the front smashing. We all sidestepped the sheets of Gib that had fallen off the walls. It seemed to take an age to get out of the building. Once out it became apparent that we couldn't stay on Hereford Street, I walked around the block and caught up with Mat from the Tech team. I tried to use his phone to call home but couldn't get an answer. We walked around to Cashel Street with others. I said I should go and try and find my mother who works across the river. I saw a scene that will haunt me forever - a small girl, about the age of my daughter Sasha, being carried by some men towards the hospital. She had a similar school uniform to Sasha.

The damage was far worse than the 4 September earthquake. Huge cracks and creases in the road. Parts where the footpaths and the grass verges and separated. I tried to find my mother but couldn't see her. Significantly for me, I also couldn't find any of her workmates.

I caught up with Mat again and we started walking towards Victoria Square. I straight away noticed the Scott statue had toppled. It was half buried in the ground. As it was a grey, cold day, fortunately there was nobody having lunch underneath. As we walked on, I saw down Worcester Street that our lovely cathedral had lost its spire. Cafe Roma building was badly damaged as was a number of taller buildings in the immediate vicinity. The Provincial Chambers which had been damaged on 4 September, was now completely collapsed. Many of the bridges had large creases where they joined the road.

Mat went off towards the east of the city at Victoria Square and I carried on towards Hagley Park. I walked down the middle of the street to avoid any further damage and turned down Durham Street. The Methodist Church which was badly damaged previously, was now a pile of rubble. A workman was being lead out - obviously in shock and injured.

The liquefaction was everywhere. Silt volcanoes bubbling up from under the streets and in the parks. It was becoming hard to navigate through the flooding and piles of silt. I helped a wee boy step over a large pool of water so he could catch up with his mum.

I walked through Hagley Park and talked to a guy with the White Ferns (the womens' cricket team?) I cut across after being diverted by a sewerage leak and once past the park, noticed the damage was much less. There were small pockets of liquefaction and some cracks in the road. The path and grass verge in Deans Bush had separated. I briefed the staff at Riccarton House about what had happened in town. Five minutes later, I was home. No damage as before. Very grateful for that.

As I write, the aftershocks are coming at 20 minute intervals. Some are small, some aren't. But all put us on edge. And at this stage 65 people have lost their lives. A lot of the heritage of the city is also gone. I spoke to a neighbour and he believed he wouldn't live to see Christchurch recover fully from this. He was also waiting to hear from some former work colleagues at the Press. He's waiting, like many people in Christchurch.

Working Late

2010-10-13T23:48:00.000-07:00

What dedicated souls some of us are. We come into work early, work through breaks and lunch. And we leave... late. Sometimes we take work home with us too.

Tomorrow I'm working late. Not really because I want to, but because that is the only time I can work late. So while everyone else on the floor is, well, drinking - I will be working. What dedication.

I should really point out that what I'm doing is actually pretty important and can only be done outside of normal working hours. It involves taking down all printing throughout the building, removing and re-installing applications and logging into each printer to make a small change. All going well, I should be done quite quickly as in done by about 8:30. About three hours in other words. And I'm looking forward to it as it's a wee bit of a challenge to do what I have to do in the short time available.

This has involved a lot of steps. Talking to vendors. Working with technical people. Working with project managers. A bit of data analysis. Talking to people. Teeing up "things" to happen. Crossing the i's and dotting the t's. Making sure I understand everything so I can ensure that everyone else understands. Great stuff. Tomorrow I'll probably zip around making sure everyone understands what is going on. I'll brief those who will be affected. I'll tell others what to expect while I'm away for a weeks training. That should be enough to get over any post-quake lethagy.

I have to admit. I don't have a great deal of admiration for those that work extremely long hours unless they are a) setting up a business or b) are working a job as a lifestyle. If they are slaving away just to get ahead, I believe they are setting a bad example. What are they going to do from there and if they have families, are they being sacrifaced just to allow this person to get one step ahead on the ladder?

I'll be content in the fact that work will be printing better because I worked late on a Friday. I hope they appreciate it.

The Earthquake Survival Guide

2010-10-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you plan having an earthquake, have it at 4:35 in the morning
This will guarantee that most people will be safely tucked up in bed. The likelihood of large numbers of shoppers out on the streets will be eliminated and it's really only a few night owls who most likely will be too drunk to notice the difference.

If you have an earthquake at 4:35 in the morning, make sure your building code is up to scratch
No good having the majority of your population tucked up in bed if the house or abode comes crashing down around their ears. This sort of defeats the purpose of having the population off the streets during the earthquake.

Torches
You can never have too many of them.

Battery Radios
You can never have too many of them

Inverters
Realistically you can only have one, but if you have several cars... Also Subaru's would be good for inverters as they use batteries that could power a small town.

Water
The more the merrier. Keep it fresh as well, so that water that was stored away two years ago, won't be too flash.

Cooking
Barbeque's all of a sudden go from being a luxury to a necessity. Also gas hobs are great. You need not sacrifice that morning coffee.

If the initial earthquake is scary, aftershocks are just plain mean
They keep you awake, they send you scurrying under the doorframe, they damage stuff, they put you on edge, they are unpredictable...

Solar power during power outages
A little untested as the power wasn't off for long enough. The idea of solar power for the hot water is good, but I'm not sure if the pump works of the grid.

Canterbury people are as accurate as quake drums
Taken a bit of practice but we are becoming as good at measuring earthquakes as a quake drum. And it becomes a bit of a competition. Only major failure is everyone SWORE that 5.1 shake was much bigger.

What have we learnt from the last month

2010-10-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

Hadn't realised it's been nearly two years since I updated this. Should make a better effort.

Anyway, the last month has been *interesting* for us Cantabrian's. As many people will know, on the 4th of September, most of us were shaken from our beds to the tune of Magnitude 7.1. For me it was a bit of a blur. I was sort of asleep at 4:35, but I wasn't sound asleep as 10 minutes before, one of our cats wanted desperately to go outside. Then my wife decided work was more important than sleeping. So just as I went back to sleep - RUMBLE, then BANG.

I grabbed my dressing gown and attempted to go to our sons room, but I'm pretty sure I was thrown off my feet and found it difficult to get through the door. In fact I have difficulty remembering much as it went on for so long. One thing I was sure of at the time was this was a big one.

I didn't know how big it was. I didn't know where it was. A chilling thought entered my head that hundreds possibly thousands could be dead. By the miracle of timing, no-one died but at the time who knew? I said to my wife that the Alpine fault had ruptured. I had read about it only two days before.

As things settled, I worked out the house was fine and we were safe. Despite the fact the kids both had torches, neither of them had them around at the time, so our daughter got the torch while our son had the iPod screen for light. Aftershocks followed pretty quickly but compared to the main shock, they felt small despite the fact they were in the vicinity of 5.6.

From there I had to find out what was going on. We had a battery radio that was on at the time so we listened to Vicky McKay on National Radio. As the reports started to come in, it seemed to take on a North Island bias. "Sounds like a North Island event rather than a South Island event" was what Vicky said. However, it soon became apparent, it was not only South Island event but a very local event. In fact, very near Charing Cross between State Highway 1 and Darfield. And to Vicky's credit, she was cool and reassuring and slipped into emergency mode without missing a beat.

As the morning progressed, I dared to clean up as much of the broken glass as I could with the light that was available. At this stage, the earthquake was 7.4 and there was widespread destruction whatever that meant. Then there was the Morning Report music on the radio. This must be bad because there is a special Morning Report. Mary Wilson was on and there was a lot more info coming in. Apart from the power not being on, the enormity of what was happening hadn't really dawned on me. The sun started coming up and I ventured out. The neighbours were all fine, but the church around the corner had lost it's cross.

I had been awake for about four hours on this Saturday morning that we would never forget. And there was more to go.

Anti-McDonald's day

2008-10-15T00:31:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the 24th Annual Anti-McDonald's day. I will acknowledge this day in the name of consumer freedom (despite the fact that I haven't passed through a McDonald's door for getting on 10 years). Why have one of these days?

It's simple. Tell these mega-corporates that the crap they dump on us in the name of "competition" is anything but. McDonald's are only one example. To this list you could add Starbucks, Microsoft, Disney, Nike, Reebok, The Warehouse (or WalMart if you are USA domiciled), Sony, Viacom and probably another dozen.

In these turbulent times, imagine the turmoil the average consumer could wreak, by boycotting all these brands for a day. The Nike shop with no punters. No queues at Disneyland. Roaring trade by local shops who have suffered by the "Big Box" traders such as the Warehouse, WalMart, Harvey Norman, Bunnings etc. One day boycotts could cause these mega-corporates to crash on stock markets world-wide - that is how jittery the markets are at the moment. Many of these corporates may claim to be major employers but, give me a break; they have sacked more by buying up the competition. And don't forget the other businesses they have swamped by their unethical business practices.

McDonald's are only a single example of how insidious modern corporate practices are. I challenge anyone to go out and find a childrens' sports program or event that is not sponsored by McDonald's. My belief, is it would be difficult to find unless your country has banned McDonald's.

But why pick on McDonalds? Surely other mega-corporates have far worse practices? Well, McDonald's are just typical of what to expect from this crowd. They will sponsor an event or programme and offer vouchers to the participants after. They have the muscle to do this. Again, why is this bad? Because they can - and they do. Instead of respecting fair competition, they will do this to crush any competition. This includes your local hamburger bar who will incidently make a burger twice the size for the money.

Currently I'm reading "No Logo" by Naomi Klein. I'm only a third of the way through and the feeling I have is a sense of hopelessness against these mega-corporates who only want to monopolise their markets (and others). However, I have faith that consumers can rise up and rebel against them - much the same way as the French and Russian revolutions.

The power today exists with these "labels". To ignore them is to destroy them.

What has been in my inbox this week.

2008-09-18T00:54:00.000-07:00

Every four years or so, this particular email does the rounds. Maybe you have seen it. This time around it's the Ant and the Grasshopper. The basic idea is the ant is a hardworking insect during summer, while the grasshopper is playing around. Come winter the ant is snug and comfortable while the grasshopper.... dies. A bit of natural justice, but hold on. The true story is that the bleeding heart, hand wringing left wingers say "This is a disgrace - we must protect the poor grasshopper". John Campbell was mentioned this election year. He was a bleeding heart, hand wringing left winger. On and on it goes. Act supporters would identify with it. Didn't forward it on.

A much more interesting email was the cool person test. It was a link to a website where you click on the button and it says "No, you're still a dickhead". I forwarded it to some colleagues during the day. The endnote to this message is, when I was reading my book when I came across a small piece of paper. It said "No, you're still a dickhead".

I love the timewasters. You know, those addictive ones where you bash a penguin over a great distance. My colleague and I shared the top score. Felt it was a real achievement for a Friday.

Speaking of Friday. Tomorrow is Friday - Talk like a Pirate day. May also dress like a pirate.