Election results...

The final results of the election after the special votes, has National loosing a seat and Helen Clark and Labour in the position to form a government. It shows me that if the right want to win, they will have to come up with a multi party plan to get a result that will allow National to form a government next time there is an election, with the likes of ACT and hopefully ACT only. Now is the time for BOTH National and ACT to rebuild and plan for an election that may not be too far away?

Westwood film festival

Last night I went to another function a the W with my friend Laurie. It was too celebrate the Westwood film festival and, as with the Katrina Hurricane function, they supplied fantastic food and cocktails. There was a photograph board at the gate so as everyone could pose and hope that they are in the next people mag. But I like to sneek in and out of these event without too much fuss, so we both declined photos.
The lady from the Bangles played music and even played Manic Monday which was cool. I spotted Mike Myers, and was thinking of turing into Austin Powers, but thought Ali G would be better. My plan was quashed when some other folks bumped in front of him and short of looking like a FREAK, I kept Ali G to myself.

Great night. Ended up at Renees afterwards.... Todd rolled up, Greg was there and Kelli, Ananda showed, and all was good.

LAX gun range

I went to the LAX gun range with Dr Craig Campbell's father, an ex NZ policeman. He told me that the guns they used when he was in the Police in NZ was the Smith and Wesson 38. The guns we shot yesterday were the 9mm glocks which I beleive the NZ police use now. It was a lot of fun and we all managed to be reasonably good at hitting the targets.

After finishing the shooting, we hopped in the car and the outside temperature was 36 degrees C. Clearly one of the hottest days of the year in LA. It is almost like earthquake weather, as it was not much higher than 20 the days before.

So I am waiting for the shaking.......... Hopefully I will not be in a highrise as that would cause extra issues with my ability to keep calm.

National swallowing ACT ?

There is some talk going on that ACT should fold and quit while they can and join National. Well for starters that would not go down well with the ACT and National Party members, and really what would it achieve?
In my opinion nothing for the right other than a National having the added brain power and expertise of Rodney Hide. Why would National want any of the EX ACT MP's that were not effective in the previous election?

As I said on Aaron's blog, It is what it is, and it is VERY SIMPLE. ACT and National are on basically the same side. It is not helping by arguing amongst ourselves. National will always be in the larger position unless something drastic changes. ACT will always be the rather loyal sidekick. They need to be distinct of each other and on the same note FRIENDLY towards each other. We are all waisting perfectly good energy on this topic, hence I will finish my post.

Greg Johnson concert at Aotea Center November 5th

Gregory is having a concert with the Auckland Philharmonia on November 5th. It should be a fantastic show. All the various musical instruments will certainly make for a different sound which will be great. I am planning on attending if the plane arrives in time, so go and get your tickets now and we can all enjoy it.

Go here to get tickets

Fernando does it.

Fernando Alonso of the Renault F1 team clinched the 2005 drivers world championship today at Interlagos in Brazil, taking the honor from Michael Schumacher. McLaren are currently ahead on the constructors points by two thanks too Juan Pablo winning the race and Kimi coming second.

Congrats Fernando.......

Time to support ACT

If you are happy that Rodney Hide won the Epsom electorate in the NZ elections, and if you are disappointed that ACT did not get the party vote support that you expected, then now is the time to step up and join ACT.

This is the time that the party needs to rebuild and your support is important. It is $10 to become a member of ACT and with your support ACT can rebuild and come back stronger next time. I encourage you to make a further donation over and above your membership. Everything helps.

www.act.org.nz

Minotaur rocket over LA

I was on the deck speaking to a friend of mine Regan from NZ, and I saw this flying object flying close to the house with some sort of technicolored fuel or spray coming out of the back of it. The spray was like a rainbow and it was spreading over the city. It was dark so I knew that what I had just witnessed was not normal. It was not a airplane, and it was making no noise. Well I was thinking that I was viewing a top secret military aircraft, a out of control UFO, or maybe some sort of weapon being unleashed over the city by terrorists. Some photos were taken and I began ringing anyone I knew who was involved with aircraft or planes.
My friend Ananda said that what I saw was reminiscent of rocket fuel and he predicted that something was fired from Vandenburg Air Force Base.

Well thank goodness he was right...After some rather frantic searching of the internet I found the launch schedule for Vandenburg AFB and it was indeed a Minotaur Rocket...

HMMM.... and I was planning my exit to Tahoe.



This photo from the LA times with the rocket powering over LA.

Uncle Jim to the rescue

According to the NZ Herald today, Cabinet minister Jim Anderton and his wife Carole has been commended by police after their quick actions saved the life of a homeless man.

Power to them, Carole is a very nice person who assisted my Grandmother in Christchurch before she passed away a couple of years ago, so I am thankful for that. Although I don't care for Jims political views, he is also a effective MP and pleasant person.

The 67-year-old Progressives leader and his wife Carole found the man with blood gushing from his arm in the middle of a Sydenham street in Christchurch as they drove home about 9pm on Tuesday.

The man had cut an artery when he jumped through the window of a Selwyn St home to escape an attack. He then stumbled about 100m - as blood gushed from his arm - down the street, and into the path of the Andertons' car.

Mr Anderton used Carole's possum and merino fur scarf and his own silk tie as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding, while his wife called emergency services. The Andertons also used a bundle of clothes they were planning to deliver to a charity shop to further slow the bleeding.

Mr Anderton said he had feared for the man's life. "He was losing blood like Niagara Falls. I didn't think he was going to live," he said.

The man passed out before emergency services arrived. He was taken to Christchurch Hospital.

Police have said the man could have died if the Andertons had not come to his rescue.

"He was really lucky members of the public assisted him and tried to stop the bleeding," said Detective Sergeant William McIvor.

The man was discharged from hospital yesterday after surgery to repair the cut artery. Lucky guy I say..... Cheers to the Andertons for their quick assistance.

W Westwood Katrina hurricane charity event

Last night I went to the W in Westwood with Nicolas and Gregory. It was a great charity event for the victims of the Katrina Hurricane in New Orleans and surrounding states. I found myself standing next to Randy Gerber, and I must say his wife Cindy Crawford certainly looks a lot nicer in person than on the television. John Goodman was also there and Jason Biggs from American Pie fame amongst others.. It was a great evening for a fantastic cause. I won the first two years of Seinfeld on DVD, and Nicolas won a coach bag. Amber will be happy, as it doesnt suit him and I would guess it will be a nice present for her. Well worth going....

Leah and Simon Petty

Went to the wedding function of Leah and Simon Petty last night. It was a great event, with the bride looking beautiful and the groom in the full swing of singing lullabys to his bride..... Everyone from Renee's was there except we were all dressed up. It was particularly brilliant to see Mr Sid Jordon and Gregory Johnson wearing ties. Congrats Leah and Simon.

Rodney Hide wins Epsom

Congrats Rodney. Brilliant result.

L.C. Plum at the Viper Room

Went out to the Viper Room in Hollywood to watch Del, Zac and Eric from L.C.Plum strut their stuff and play some brilliant music. The Viper Room is a bit of a legend place, so I took the liberty of having a nice soothing JD and Coke while enjoying the atmosphere and music. Be sure to check out the web site at www.lcplum.com

Vote ACT in the elections

On Saturday 17th September give ACT your party vote. If you live in Epsom, as well as the party vote, also give Rodney Hide of ACT the electorate vote. DO this, and enjoy your freedom and tax cuts in a National led government with ACT as a partner. If Winston is involved ACT is the perfect partner to keep him honest..... Vote ACT.



*** Brillaint Result for Rodney winning Epsom ***

Wicked beer

According to stuff.co.nz, A German brewer has concocted what he says is the world's strongest beer, a potent drink with an alcohol content of 25.4 per cent that is served in a shot glass. Phew that is stronger than wine, and about the same as Malibu.

"Everyone who has tried it is enthusiastic. It tastes like a quirky mixture of beer and sherry," said Bavarian brewer Harald Schneider.

Schneider, who lives in southern Germany where beer is a tradition, said his beer fermented for 12 weeks for an alcohol content twice that of Germany's other strongest beers.

"People will only be able to drink two or three glasses, otherwise they'll drop like flies," he said. So much for having a quiet beer.

Schneider expects the holders of the world's strongest beer, the Boston Beer Company, to put up a fight.

"I'm pretty sure the Americans have something up their sleeve." Like a molotov cocktail..???

September 11th 2005

It has been 4 years since Manhattan was attacked by nasty people....

Lets not forget those who were lost.

Swagger

Went to Hotel Cafe in Hollywood last night to watch Greg Johnson play some good kiwi tunes. As per usual Ted Brown was supporting Greg along with Sid and Malcolm from the band Minibar.
The Hotel Cafe has just been extended and is now twice the size. The acoustics were great and the show was fantastic. They even played Swagger which is a brilliant song, a favourite of mine.
Previously they only sold beer at the Hotel Cafe, but must have extended their liquor licence as it was nice to have a small vodka 7up while listening to the show.
If you are ever in LA and Greg is playing Hotel Cafe, I recommend it.

Will Fernando do it?

Will 24 yr old Fernando Alonso from the Renault F1 team (Not Airbus) be the youngest F1 Drivers champion after tomorrows race?
You'll have to watch and see.......

**** Update ****

No he didn't. Kimi won the race followed by Fernando. There is now only 1 point preventing Fernando from being the world champ for 2005.
The race was great...Lots of rain and lots of crashes.

Epsom Electorate

It seems that there is some conflicting polls out there saying that Rodney Hide of ACT is ahead in the race for the Epsom seat, or a long way behind. Like most of the polls out there at the moment, they dont make much sence.

Fact of the matter is that if you have an opinion you should VOTE. If you want a National lead government vote for Rodney Hide.... If you want a Labour lead government and it comes to the wire.... Vote Richard Worth of National.

Confused....well most people are. If ACT get below 5% of the party vote and Rodney loses the seat it is bye bye ACT, and one less partner for National. If Rodney wins the seat and they get a reasonable percentage of the vote, then Rodney will be coming back, and a few of his ACT MP's will be back too. This will give National some more opportunities and if the race is as close as they say it is important to consider.

The National candidate Richard Worth is 16th on the list. He is GUARANTEED to get back into parliament.

If you live in Epsom and you want a right wing government in New Zealand, vote tacticly, Give Rodney Hide and ACT 2 ticks, and enjoy your tax cut.

Idiot rap star of the week Kanye West

Kanye West, some rappist that I have never heard of has caused controversy by attacking President George W Bush's handling of the New Orleans crisis live on American television.

The rapper-producer was taking part in a telethon for the victims of Hurricane Katrina when he spoke out about the treatment black people in the disaster. Good on him for offering his time. All people of New Orleans need assistance and help at this time.

"I hate the way they treat us in the media, when you see a black family it says they're looting when you see a white family it says they're looking for food," said West before personally targeting the President...

Well it is unfortunate that most of the poor people in New Orleans happen to be black, and choose to stay in the area. Anyone with the ability too left the area upon being asked / ordered too go. If it happens that when the tv cameras are rolling that the only people looting are black people, that means one of two things. Either they are the only people looting, or the cameras happen to be in the worse hit area which may be a black neighbourhood. In either case.... What person in their right mind is going to loot a store in front of a live news camera? Idiocy. This is not George Bush's fault. Have a go at the tv stations that are filming the news Kanye and keep your mouth shut.

"George Bush doesn't care about black people," he declared adding that America is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible", Billboard reports. Another load of crap. America was not 100% set up for anything like this. It is not the Presidents fault, the National Guard and the Governors of the respective states were first on hand. George has fast tracked funding, offered support and pledged further assistance. He is not such a figure that he can physically stop a hurricane.... Kanye smarten up.

West then praised the Red Cross’ efforts saying they were doing “everything they can”.

NBC, the network that aired the programme, quickly distanced itself from West, declaring he had “departed from the scripted comments that were prepared for him”, while some American commentators attacked his comments.

Sounds like this know it all rapper needs to hop on a plane and go to the area and volunteer to help. George has been there 3 or 4 times this week.

It is always easy to pull a Mike Moore and critisize the authorities, but when it comes to doing something useful Kanye needs to use as much of the brainpower that he has to do something positive. Have some respect Kanye.

Apple comes to the rescue

So I updated my computers ram the other day. It turned out that it may have been faulty and my beloved imac has been inadvertedly crashing. I turned on my itunes which had just under 1000 songs, and the computer decided to dump 600 of those. I was slightly peterbed for want of a better word. So the company replaced the ram again yesterday, and managed to find most of the songs in the memory except for the purchased music from Apple. I only use itunes to download music these days. It is $0.99 per tune and there is a fantastic selection. I e-mailed Apple and asked what to do. They told me where to find the songs, but they were not there, so I emailed back and asked what to do. They said check the itunes purchase receipts on my account and verify that I had brought the songs. Well I had, so I e-mailed them back and they gave me a one off exemption to get my purchased music back without paying twice. Very good of them. I am impressed with the quick responce and ease of replacement...... This is why I love Apple. Now I have been told to back up my music files...That is next on the agenda.

Who won the $15.2 million?

A lucky Aucklander is $15.2 million richer after beating the 1-in-30 million odds last night to win New Zealand's largest ever lottery prize.

The winning ticket - made up of $14.5 million from Powerball and a first division win of $733,068 - was bought at Amigo's Paper Power & Lotto in Mt Roskill.

Now if you brought your ticket at Amigo's, then it is time to check your numbers. Good luck.

Boosted the i Mac

Today I bumped up the ram of my G4 i Mac from 256 to 1GB. I also treated her to some new Harmon / Kardon speakers along with sub woofer, and the Mighty Mouse from Mac. All is good, and all I need now is the i Pod Nano and the Motorola ROKR which plays itunes on the phone and I will be set for a while. Excellent Apple.

El Al Security at LAX

So I was plane spotting today with my buddy Glen at LAX as I sometimes do, and this El Al ( Israel Airlines ) vehicle pulls up. I was wondering what they were doing hovering around eyeballing me, but didnt think too much of it. All of a sudden a gentleman with an El Al uniform comes to the car and in a thick Iraeli accent asks us what we are doing at the airport.

I informed him that I was looking at planes, and he said so you are a plane spotter? I said yes. He said have a good day and walked of and hopped on his CB keeping a close eye on my car. Now I wasn't too comfortable with that confrontation, and I found it really odd that I would be questioned by an employee of a foreign airline.....

Next thing you know there are police cars driving up and down the runway more so than usual, baggage handling trucks driving by slowly glearing over to the car and the guy was still there yabbering on his CB.

All of a sudden an El Al Airlines 767 pulls onto the runway and slowly comes to the end of the runway to where we were, with a virtual police escort. I know that most of the time El Al does not have a steady schedule and sort of tells it's passengers to be at the airport at a certain time and wing it if I may, but I had never seen this sort of thing unless it was a head of state traveling.

As the plane is spooling up its engines and I am watching with amazement, the El Al employee comes back to the car and asks me where I am from. He had spotted the NZ flag on the back of my car, as he was prying over it with his eagle eyes, and wanted to talk about NZ.

He had been there for 3 months he said and loved it. Glen was wondering if he was packing heat, but didn't want to ask. It turns out that every time a plane with an Israeli Flag on it is preparing to take off and land, they ramp up the security dramatically for the safety of the passengers. He waited till the plane had taken off and was out of sight then he bid his farewells.

I must say, the employee turned out to be polite and nice and I am VERY impressed with the security precautions that El Al take for the sake of safety. They take it very seriously.

Would I fly El Al......? Probably not out of preferance, I'd be feeling a bit uncomfortable with all the excess security.... Having said that no other airline goes to the same lengths as El Al.

Donald will bring back the Knighthoods

If Donald Brash is elected PM of NZ in the upcoming election, he is planning on restoring Knighthoods. Currently if you get awarded the equivilent it is a Order of New Zealand. Who has one of those? There is something good about a Sir or a Dame, it is traditional.... Why not keep both awards ONZ and Knighthoods and keep everyone happy.

Sir Puntiki.

National Guard coming to get the looters.

The whole place is turning to crap. The city of New Orleans is under water, people are homeless and lost, and a percentage of heartless people are taking true advantage of the situation.

Murders, rapings, bashings, and LOOTINGS are rampant. Now I can understand if you are washed out of your home, if there is no power, no food, and no water available. I can understand that you would probably make your way to the food store and help yourself to some food and liquid to keep yourself alive. That is acceptable...You are trying to live.

It is not going to save your life if you help yourself to a new TV, stereo, pair of shoes, cd's, dvd's, cars, weapons, alcohol, cooking utensils, or red rubber jumpsuit etc. That is theft and you are scum. Prepare to be taken care of.

The National Guard is coming to town to stop this and people are going to be shot on site. It is horrible that the Mayor of New Orleans had to pull law enforcement away from helping innocent people hurt by the storm, to take control of the looting.

Scum even shot at a helicopter today that was flying in with Red Cross to save lives.

This is unacceptable behavour.

Looters and scum should and will need to be taken care of quickly. Bang Bang.

GP Masters

A new racing league is being created. It is called Grand Prix masters, and it consists of ex F1 drivers who are over 45, have raced for a F1 team or teams for at least 2 seasons, and have been out of the sport of F1 for at least 2 years.
Now I am a massive F1 fan, and the thought of Nigel Mansell racing a 200 mph car in anger against the likes of Alan Prost, Stefan Johansson, Alan Jones and Rene Arnoux amongst others, is particularly fascinating for me..... The first race is on November the 13th 2005 in South Africa at the Kyalmai race track, and I hope that the event is properly televised throughout the world. I want to watch it live.
The F1 season finishes in October and I am predicting that Fernando will win the title, but regardless of that..... There is now something interesting to watch between F1 seasons....Woopee.

www.gpmasters.com

Blog of the week.

woodm.blogspot.com

Thanks to the polite on Friday Cathy Odgers for the heads up on this one.

A utter load of left wing spin.......

www.skype.com

For those of you who like to make international calls, or are based overseas.... Look up www.skype.com and be prepared to make free or very very cheap calls via your computer. It is a good idea to have a fast internet connection, and an idea of how to download applications, but hey you can work it out. Brilliant.

Will National pull through?

Labour's lead has been cut to 4.3 points over National according to the NZ Herald today.

National has virtually halved Labour's lead within a week, cutting a 9.3 point gap last week to 4.3 this week, according to the latest Herald DigiPoll survey.

Polling for this survey began on Thursday last week and finished on Wednesday this week. In the segment taken before Monday's race-related speech of National leader Don Brash, Labour had stretched 10.9 points ahead of National to 46.8 per cent.

But in the segment taken after the speech in Whangarei on Monday, Labour had slumped and National was ahead of Labour by three points, on 43.2.

Labour is on 43.4 (down 1.9 on last week's poll) Still ahead but slowly going down.

National is on 39.1 (up 3.1) Starting to breath down the neck of Hell-en.

New Zealand First 6.6 (up 0.5) Gaining, but is that a good thing?

Greens 5 (down 1.4) Hopefully they will continue to drop and disappear.

Act 2.1 (up 1.2) Brilliant news for ACT. Momentum is building. Watch this space.

United Future 1.7 (up 0.4) Might help if seat is won.

Maori Party 1.2 (down 1) Droping like a lead balloon.

Progressives 0.1 (down 0.5) Jim and his charisma is not pulling through.

Translated into seats in the House, Labour and the Progressives would be able to form a coalition with the Greens, provided that the Progressives win a seat, - who would just make it to Parliament by a whisker - or New Zealand First.

Act would disappear altogether but may be slightly heartened by a marked improvement in the second segment of this week's poll to 3.2 points. They will be back... Momemtum is building. A good result for ACT. Positive results.

On today's poll, National would not be able to form a government at all. Bugger. Work needs to be done on the centre right. It is close but no cigar as yet. The hard yards need to be done and done again until the day before the election. Victory is in sight for the centre right.

Anonymous postings

There has been a few odd ball off topic comments made on this blog, and although I was allowing anonymous comments so my lazy friends can leave a message once and a while without having to sign up..... Too bad. If you want to leave a message on the blog you'll need to get a blog name. It is simple and easy.

Update....I have changes it so as anonymous postings are still allowed, but you will need to put in a verification before you post......