But life is not that exciting. I'm not writing again, alas. The weather is cold. And next time I am tempted to eat foods containing fodmaps I'm going to remember that the consequences have several times proven to never be pretty, and try to resist. (But goddamn, who'd have thought there was so much wheat in the world, really.)

I am rewatching (and seeing some eps for the first time too) Deep Space Nine. Time changes everything, as the song goes, and I am so going to miss Jadzia; Sisko is the best and sometimes most bemused father in the world; Julian Bashir is Blair Sandburg in space; I love nearly everyone, especially Kira; and damn, Garak is fun. I discovered that his actor, Andrew Robinson, played the mentally ill man who is Molly's friend in 'Waiting Room' in TS. Such a small tv world sometimes.

It's not May, but I liked this song that I heard on the radio recently, so try this: Reb Fountain and her song 'Gold'.




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You know what that means.

This is a Kiwi classic going all the way back to 1975.



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Poor old Canterbury cannot catch a break. Thousands face evacuation in Christchurch as a fire threatens the Port Hills. Blimmin' heck.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/324586/live-port-hills-fire-updates-thousands-of-people-evacuated

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Today's route to and from work.

And that word is munted, which stands for broken, busted up, damaged beyond repair. Yeah. The northern east coast of the South Island is pretty munted right now. Quite aside from the damage to small communities in the earthquake epicentre, and that damage is substantial, and downright catastrophic for Kaikoura, the quake has pretty much destroyed a major road and rail corridor that helps to supply Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill and a host of smaller communities. Joy. At least as an island country we have a lot of ports.

For a guy who doesn't regard himself as good with words, I think that the head of Geonet did okay.

Responding to the monster

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New Zealand's South Island had a 7.5 earthquake last night which pretty much shook the entire country.

None of my family is in the seriously damaged zone although the sweetie and her flatmates evacuated to her boyfriend's house on the hill as there was enough of a tsunami warning to make her feel unsafe in her house on low-lying land. There wasn't anything major in the way of waves in the end, so there's that at least.

I got wakened just after midnight. The shaking wasn't strong but it was notable and lengthy and I grabbed at the spouse. We watched the door and light fittings swinging back and forth and wondered where it was coming from, since someone was clearly getting it badly somewhere.

So short version - I and my family are fine. Elaine is farther away from the action again so she will have had a fright but nothing worse. ETA that Elaine managed to sleep through it - lucky girl.

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Worst flooding in decades in Wellington

Tornado in Mt Maunganui

Where I am is soggy but okay, but I know Wellington pretty well, and am looking in horror at some of these pictures and videos. Quite a few texts yesterday to friends and family.

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You know what that means.

Victoria by Dance Exponents

Dance Exponents produced more than their fair share of pub anthems, and most NZers of a certain age have warbled 'Victoria, what do you see in him?'

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Dame Alison Holst has announced that she's 'retiring' from public activity because of the cursed brain disease. Alison Holst is a celebrity chef who first appeared on NZ tv screens when I was but a little babe, and she and her son have between them put together a heaping pile of very useful cookbooks. I regularly use her Dollars and Sense, and Vegetarian cookbooks, for a start.

A NZ Herald article with links to a couple of YouTube blasts from the past

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