About SJPONeill

Retired(ish) and living on the side of a mountain. I love reading and writing, pottering around with DIY in the garden and the kitchen, watching movies and building models from plastic and paper...I have two awesome daughters, two awesome grand-daughters and two awesome big dogs...lots of awesomeness around me...

Weekly Photo Challenge: Today

Posted on 4 June 2012 by SJPONeill

This morning I have been wandering around Vancouver taking care of some final errands before checking out of the hotel and heading for the airport. In the back of my mind for the last couple of days has been this weeks’ photo challenge ‘today‘: the requirement is simply for any photo so long as it has been freshly snapped on the day of posting…

Near the end of my travels, I stumbled (almost literally) across this sign and while it strike me as very ‘today’ – a meal here and you might not have any tomorrows…! I wonder sometimes about teh seafood industry and whether it needs to seriously start thinking about creating a body to oversee restaurant naming conventions…? This is from when we were in Crystal City a couple oif months back…

So somewhere there is a chain of Illegal Sea Foods restaurants??

Five Question Friday! 6/1/12

Posted on 2 June 2012 by SJPONeill

1. What were you scared of as a kid?

The even stevens top three are…

…classic Doctor Who monsters, of course the Daleks but they’ve been rather overhyped since the Doctor Who renaissance since 2004 – worse than cockroaches, they just won’t die – but equally as scary were the original Cybermen…

Regardless of incarnation, the Doctors always had such crappy situational awareness….

….and the Abominable Snowmen – although now they kinda just look like decapitated Big Birds (in good old-fashioned black and white, of course)…

But being strictly honest, it was a Dalek that almost got me in the end…Dad used to right into squash and while he played, us kids would roam the depths of the squash court complex (which also supported a decent size badminton club). Can you imagine my sheer gibbering terror when I rounded a shadowy corner – right into an eye-level real live Dalek!!! Looking back from now, there is a slight possibility that it was just a super-size display shuttlecock….

Stingray hit the screens back home around 1967-8 – I used to watch it with Mum but mainly through my fingers and/or behind the couch as Troy Tempest, like most heroes seemed to have this innate ability to get himself right into the middle of a bad situation EVERY episode – why did WASP keep such a klutz on the staff? OK, so fair enough, he managed to recover things in thirty minutes…but even so….

And finally, there is the ID monster from Forbidden Planet – after almost sixty years it remains a classic that is totally not in need of a glitzy CGI-heavy remake…the whole idea of a an invisible monster that could crfeep in anywhere and get you took a long time to get over….

2. Do you sleep well in a hotel?

I hope so as I get enough practice at it!!! I think I spent two months overseas last year in one form of hotel accommodation or another – this year is a bit milder but still looking at four or five week in hotels – and that’s not counting other ‘alien’ beds as I travel around New Zealand for work…or my days on-base when I am not working from home. Actually, I have to admit that I don’t mind it too much as if there’s one thing you pick up from an infantry career is how to sleep just about any place and feel good about it…

Can’t really complain if this is the worst view I have this trip..!

Looking back, I think that the only time I have had trouble sleeping in a hotel room was one night I spent in the Crowne Plaza at Changi Airport where I checked in late in the evening and found that the first flight went out at 0534 in the morning as my room (directly overlooking the runway) rattled and shook…nothing like an early start to the day!

3. If you could meet any celebrity, dead or alive, who and why?

[Edit: Holy heck!! I skipped a whole question!!!]

I see that Mama M struggled with this one too…I’m not really too much into the whole celebrity thing nor whatever it is that might define ‘celebrity’…so often the public persona of an individual is so different from who they really are…the mighty(yeah, right) knowledge base, Wikipedia describes celebrity as:

A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media. The term is synonymous with wealth (commonly denoted as a person with fame and fortune), implied with great popular appeal, prominence in a particular field, and is easily recognized by the general public.

And that doesn’t help at all…if anything that definition is of someone to be feeling sorry for that particularly wanted to meet for any reason – think I’ll pass on this one…

4. It’s a hot summer day. Do you prefer to be pool side or at the beach?

“It’s a hot summer day.” Ok, it probably is somewhere but it hasn’t quite made it here yet – although it is not unpleasant outside….if ‘at the beach’ could be stretched to include ‘lakeside’ then I think that’d be the preferred option with a pool the slow second option – there’s nothing quite like naturally moving water over the canned variety…

5. What is your favorite summer dish?

Hmmmm….this is a real toughie…after much very careful consideration, I have to opt for a cold chicken salad with lots of crisp salad, tomatoes, croutons, peppers, et cetera… accompanied by a tall chilled glass of genuine root beer…

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer

Posted on 1 June 2012 by SJPONeill

This week’s photo challenge was ‘summer‘ but since I’ve been in Canada, the weather hasn’t been very summery, still quite pleasant and not uncomfortable in short sleeves but kinda damp. This afternoon though we went on a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the Vancouver Aquarium. The afternoon was warm and it felt pretty summery around the pool…

…and this gal was keen as to get out and about in the sun….

…but the African penguins didn’t seem too impressed…

…and it’s always summer in the Amazon Room…

…with a big burst of colour in the anemone tank too…

Really enjoyed our afternoon at the Aquarium and can really recommend it to anyone looking to kill a few hours in Vancouver…

Reflections – An Alternate Photo Challenge

Posted on 30 May 2012 by SJPONeill

The daisy chain went something like this: The Retiring Sort liked one of my recent blog posts and, as I try to always do, I popped on over to have a look at that blog…from there I saw the link the the alternate weekly photo challenge on Where’s My Backpack? offering ‘Reflections’ as a theme int he absence of a timely ‘offocial’ challenge from WordPress (c’mon, folks, how hard can it be to pick a word every Friday – or even prior to that for a pre-scheduled release?)

I had intended to pick a relevant image from the photo library at home but never got round to it after creating the initial draft post and so found myself on the road in search of something ‘reflections-y’…

Due to high demand and overbooking, my hotel did not have a room for me when I arrived on Saturday night (but had arranged a very nice room in another hotel all the way back over by the airport) and I had to wait til around 3PM for my room to be ready on Sunday. After having a walk-around the waterf ront and doing a little exploring, I retired to the hotel lobby to wait on the room. This was not unpleasant as it was very comfortable and I am working my way through an anthology of Ray Cummings Golden Age SF on my Nook at the moment (now that I have shrugged off the tyranny of Barnes and Noble efforts to inflict its version of rights management on overseas customers) and the foyer couches are very comfortable.

As I read, I noticed the reflections in the pool just on the other side of the window – nothing spectacular but enough to meet the requirements of the reflections challenge…

…but still quite tranquil until…

…this chap showed up and started to muss up the reflections theme…

He seemed very friendly and sat quite happily preening himself for a good twenty minutes, during which I had to point out the difference to a nice lady who offered the comment “…that’s a nice duck…”! She hauled out her phone to take a picture and, now clearly offended, he flew off before she could line him up…

The End

Keepin’ on keepin’ on – the Tupperware adventure

Posted on 29 May 2012 by SJPONeill

Anyway…so there I was…subscribed to Mama M’s blog ‘Five Crooked Halos‘ purely to get her Five Question Friday posts when up pops this little gem slips into the inbox – there’s nothing really too substantial about it but the paragraph caught my eye…

It seems as if Tupperware consultants no longer exist. Like they went out with the harvest orange and mustard yellow Tupperware era and corded phones.

Like, you know…I never realised that the orange and mustard Tupperwares were like some kind of rare or something…we have a stack of them. all rescued from whatever fate in various thrift and opportunity shops (sorry, a good scavenger never reveals their exact sources)…

These were the only ones in the cupboard the other Sunday night, all their kinfolk being actively engaged in producing dinner…thinking on it, they go look kinda retro…certainly not as bright and modern as the more recent Tupperware products…

On the right is an onion slicer that Carmen got me for Christmas 3-4 years ago…it is lasting very well as it is used all the time…it is so simple: just quarter up an onion, drop the pieces in, pop the top back on and work the top back and forth – a clever system of internal gears then works the blades round and round til the pieces are the consistency you need – works great for tomatoes and anything else that will offer a degree of resistance to the blades, which, after some yearsof use, are as sharp as ever and still unforgiving of careless fingers…

On the left is its big brother, albeit with the slicing-dicing blade put away safely from little fingers so what you see is the beating-whipping (as in violence committed against cream) head. To make it spin, simply pull on the white handle on the top, much like starting the outboard or the lawnmower and the blade whirls back and force until said liquid attains the desired consistency…very cool, very clever, very mine…hands off!!

This here is a Tupperware planter where the Kermit green phallic symbol is actually a water bottle that sits inverted and dribbles water into the bottom of the actual planter…that one bottle holds about 500mls and lasts for about two weeks before needing a refill. The basil seems to like it, especially since we’re now getting some heavy frosts so this device means it gets to live inside…Not sure that we want a whole row of these lined up inside – all that green might be just a little overpowering – but it certainly seems to do the trick and looks kinda coolish – but then I may be turning into a bit of a Tupperware geek…

I’m not sure where Carmen scores them from but I suspect that there is at least one Tupperware agent alive and well in the Central Waikato contrary to Mama M’s concern that they may be a dying breed…well, not down thisaways anyway…

My Little Life: Idiocy

Posted on 29 May 2012 by SJPONeill

My Little Life: Idiocy.

Mama M has a very angry (and quite rightly so!!) post on the idiocy of those who persist in driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI).

Down here, it’s more commonly known as Drunk In Charge, or DIC and there is similarly self-righteousness being displayed by the dope-smoking community at the apparent invasion of their rights as NZ Police step up their campaign against those that drive under the influence of drugs other than alcohol.

Apparently we don’t actually have specific legislation that makes being in charge of a firearm while under the influence a specific offence but maybe if we did it might help some people join the dots between being under the influence for whatever cause or reason and being in charge of a lethal weapon.

Living rurally as we do, taking DIC/DUI seriously can be a bit of a social damper as there’s not really the option of catching a taxi and picking up the car in the morning if we go out and have a couple too many – we limit ourselves to one or none drinks if we are going to drive with none generally being the preferred option – and have realised that there is something to be said for having teenagers living at home (once they have attained a full drivers license). So we rarely go out and drink unless we have accommodation in location – and that doesn’t mean that instead we just have big benders at home either – not just from some concept of social responsibility but because we have both seen the human cost of those who flaunt common sense and decide that it does not apply to them. Personally, I have no problem with those who drive under the influence and only take themselves out – I’m a big advocate of preemptive natural selection – but those is so rarely the case and it is the other occupants of the vehicles, other road users and pedestrians who so often pay the price for one driver’s blatant selfishness and irresponsibility…

Mainly faf–trans-Pacific movie reviews

Posted on 28 May 2012 by SJPONeill

Yep…on the ‘road’ again…I thought that Air New Zealand as a Star Alliance member would have a better entertainment menu but certainly this month’s was rather bland and I am hoping that heading home after the first of June will see a broader range available down the goats and chickens end of the plane…

This weekend’s viewing included…

the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-movie-poster

Faf for people too dumb, lazy or ignorant to read subtitles

I have been meaning to write about the remade Girl With The Dragon Tattoo since Empire released its cover story issue on it a few months ago – I held off because I hadn’t seen the new version and because I was just really busy – my gut feeling from the start though was that any remake would have to be pretty good to improve on the Swedish original and I was right. Unfortunately the Daniel Craig version isn’t the one: if you haven’t seen the original movie then this one is OK but only a shadow of the grittier and far more thrilling and gripping original….

A brief break for a Coke Zero and then…

Nothing stellar but fun…

I must admit that I quite like movies that Mark Wahlberg is in, even if the movie overall in a bit of a stinker…Contraband is a fun movie but nothing stellar – a rather implausible but fast-paced cruise to Panama while Mum, Kate Beckinsale, looks after the kids and rues the day she didn’t push her younger brother off the fire escape…

I had a bit of a snooze but wasn’t really that sleepy so took a punt on Shutter Island.

Psychiatric Shaggy Dog story

Titanic aside, Leonardo has the opposite effect on my desire to watch a movie than Mark Wahlberg: as soon as I see his name in the credits, I’m automatically wondering if there aren’t any drains that need clearing or gutters than need cleaning. Shutter Island did nothing to persuade me that Leonardo offers anything meaningful to movie art…it doesn’t so much drag as charge towards one of only two possible endings and once the killer is revealed its all a bit hohum….

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my Air Canada hop from San Francisco had an excellent range of movie entertainment but only a two hour flight to watch anything…

Oh, God! Make it stop…!

The Underworld ‘saga’ never really grabbed me like some other franchise series like Resident Evil which is just good clean hyper-violent gory messy fun….Underworld Awakening screams for a a stake through its inner essence (if it had any). It is a sad example of what happens when money is short and greedy production companies want to flog a license to death, or un-death in this case. Production values are rock-bottom with poorly integrated low-resolution video game graphics mixed with blurry flash-back sequences and only occasional live-acting scenes. It’s unlikely that you will see this one in the bargain bin at Warewhare because the other bargains movies will keep hefting it out on to the floor…

I had angsted over a choice between Underworld Awakening because I suspected how bad it might be and the 1951 original of The Thing, another victim of remake-itis, although John Carpenter’s 1982 version remains a classic in its own right…and after watching this version again, I wonder how much Ridley Scott’s Aliens franchise owes to it as well…?

A true classic in all its monochromatic glory…

Wooden acting aside, this Arctic tale of terror is still enough to put any seven year old to cowering behind the couch of dark and stormy nights…

Five Question Friday!! 5/25/12

Posted on 26 May 2012 by SJPONeill

1. Are you a napper?
Nope…not really…if I let myself nod off, then I will probably be out for hours and wake up at o-dark-30 all refreshed and energised which just perpetuates the problem. If possible, I prefer to push through to a normal(ish) bed time for a rest…of course it doesn’t always pan out according to plan…

2. What was your favorite subject in school? Most hated?
I liked English, reading and writing from the very start – had my first story published in the Sunday Times when I was seven and found this year that I still have the first exercise book in which I wrote stories…it’s all in pencil so I need to scan it soon before it all fades away…hated maths from Day 1…

3. Did you have the something old new borrowed and blue at your wedding? What were they?
Old was probably me, new would have been the wedding cake (rings and wedding dress we have bought a few years before), borrowed would be the two witnesses that we met at the hotel, and blue would be the lagoon behind the beach where we had the service…I’m travelling at the moment so don’t have access to any of the pictures so will update this is a couple of weeks…

4. What one thing are you determined to do this summer
Noting that we are the bottom of the planet, summer is a few months away..reroofing the house was the main objective for the ‘summer’ just gone and we got it done in the only four day break of decent weather all ‘summer’ – finished at 8-30PM on the Thursday night and it was bucketing down by midnight! This coming summer might be focussing on levelling out the lawn and pushing civilisation all the way to the fence around the house…

5. Ice cream or Popsicles?

Is that even a question? Ice cream -hands down!!!! And none of those dodgy marketing flavours…good old-fashioned vanilla or hokey-pokey will do nicely with fresh fruit in summer and melting over a hot butterscotch pudding in winter…

Cutting and running today as I still have to finish packing etc…

Weekly Photo Challenge: Hands

Posted on 19 May 2012 by SJPONeill

Together

Selecting a ‘hands‘ themes photo this morning came down to two contenders…

Hey, look! NO hands…

Weekly Photo Challenge: Blue

Posted on 18 May 2012 by SJPONeill

Eliminating ‘blue‘ sea and ‘blue‘ skies from my quest, I simply scrolled through my Picasa library and waiting for a ‘blue’ (no! not that sort of blue!!) picture to catch my eye…the winner was this Martin B-10 at the USAF Museum near Dayton, in the common pre-WW2 scheme of blue fuselage and yellow wings…

Then I became curious as to the ‘why’ of this colour scheme which seems counter-intuitive for operational military aircraft and found this explanation at War and Game:

BLU AND YELLA

The use of two color schemes, Light Blue for trainers, and Olive Drab for tactical aircraft, caused logistical headaches for Air Corps maintenance facilities. Quantities of O.D. and Light Blue paints were required in stock at all time. Another problem was the need to know an aircraft’s ultimate destination before paint could be applied: examples of many aircraft served in the training roles, and thus could require blue fuselages.

The solution, as recommended by the Chief of the Material Division in January 1934, was to standardize one paint scheme for all aircraft, regardless of role. His choice was Light Blue fuselages and Yellow wings and tails, reasoning that high visibility was essential for trainers, while temporary water paint camouflages made the lower-contrast Olive Drab for tactical aircraft unnecessary. Stocks of Olive Drab were at the reorder point, making a timely decision that much more important, and in February the recommendation was approved by the Chief of the Air Corps. Revised specifications and T.O’s were printed in May, and shortly afterward, tactical aircraft were noted with Light Blue fuselages.

OK, I can live with that….