What are we suppose to do with one Bee Gee?

One of the infamously falsetto-voiced trio the Bee Gees, Robin Gibb, has announced a three date New Zealand tour.
As part of his Bee Gees Greatest Hits tour, Gibb will perform with the Pointer Sisters, comprising sisters Anita and Ruth with Ruth's granddaughter, Sadako, at the TSB Bank Arena, Wellington and the CBS Canterbury Arena between November 10-12.
Gibb, who has maintained a successful solo career, last performed in New Zealand in 1999 when he played to more than 60,000 people in Auckland's Western Springs, one of the largest concert attendances in New Zealand history.
"It's been a long time, but I'm really, really pleased to be coming back one more time to play for the New Zealand fans," Gibb says.
The Bee Gees are the only group to have recorded number one songs in four different decades and there are more than 6500 cover version of the songs.



It's personal

I am, by nature, a very private person. I have lots of thoughts that I don't share with my bloggy friends--mostly, because I believe that everybody is entitled to their own opinion no matter how stupid it is and I don't feel the need to persuade them to my way of thinking if I don't agree.

That being said, I feel that I am a very spiritual person. In traditional ways, not the new age crap stuff that seems to be everywhere you turn these days. I believe the Bible. Literally. I have studied the Bible and I believe I have insights that I can share along the way when necessary.

The one thing that I feel moved to share at the moment is my opinion or interpretation or whatever you want to call it (to which I am entitled and will gladly discuss but not argue about) is about diseases. I don't think disease is a punishment for sins. I think it's a result of sin, but it's something that we are not left alone to deal with. Consider the following....

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, there was no sin (fyi,they didn't eat meat, either, but that's another discussion) and their bodies were healthy. It wasn't until they got kicked out of the Garden that disease showed up. Therefore, it is my conclusion that disease is just something we have to deal with on this earth because of the sinful nature of all humanity.  But, wait. There's more.

I believe that, through Jesus, we can have the powers that He had over disease because the Bible says so (it's that literal thing). Now, I also believe that most of don't have enough faith to overcome disease and death, but I truly think it's possible. And I think some of us humans do take this power and use it against disease, if only on occasion.

When disease (or any emotional trauma) strikes us or our loved ones, we usually get focused on the negative and go through a whole spectrum of emotions. That's normal. That's human. But, it's sad how people waste so much time trying to blame God (or their version of the 'Higher Power') when they should be grateful for the good times that they had with the loved one. God can give grace and peace and the ability to not withdraw because of hurt. But we have to ask Him for help.

Bad stuff happens. But it's how we choose to deal with it that makes it harder or easier for the one that it has happened to.


This and that.....

It's only been 50 years that NZ has had television and there were special programs to celebrate this past month. I didn't watch the first one, but from the local comedians' and friends' reactions, I didn't miss much. Apparently, it was in the format of a quiz show (now take a few moments to visualize how that is not the way to celebrate).

We just watched the first of 7 parts of the Prime Channel special historical program and it was quite fascinating. I was stunned to realize that our family's most-watched free tv station has only been on the air since the late '90's. I guess I'm used to free US tv that has been around forever.

But, alas, the program was consistent with NZ reporting. There were acronyms and groups and other things that were not explained in the show. [Grrrr...again, my biggest gripe about NZ press and tv--if you don't know what they are talking about, you won't find out from the article or program.]  Fortunately, I had dear Hubby to explain things to me. Bless his patient little heart.

We all know that Disco died a while back, but dances socials that are given by schools or other groups to raise money here are still called a disco. Hmmmmm.

Most baking recipes state 'margarine or butter' as a regular ingredient. I always used margarine in America, as did most of the people I ever knew, as real butter was quite expensive and hard to work with. Here in NZ, since dairy products are one of the top exports (except to the US, where they are not allowed in), I buy real butter to do all my baking. I can buy 500g (about a pound) of butter on sale for $3.99. The spread (real butter combined with oil to make it spreadable) that the family likes to use for everyday use costs just over $5.00 for 500g. Go figure.

I have always noted that crime in NZ is probably as low as it is because there is no place to hide. The whole of New Zealand is not quite 104,000 square miles, about the size of Colorado, and then that area is divided into two main islands. Apparently, an alleged Chinese murderer though it was to his advantage to run to China to blend in. Makes sense since it's so populated. Didn't work. I, for one, am impressed. Hubby and I agree that he should be tried in China. 'Nuff said.

It has rained so much the last month or so that all the spring-blooming plants in the garden and my spring bulbs that I just planted have decided winter is done and it's time to bloom!


It's all his fault

Anybody who takes as many drive-by pictures as I do knows that photos don't all come out great. Some are fuzzy, some have the car hood bonnet as the biggest thing in the photo, some have sun spots, some have a quarter of the photo with your camera's reflection in the rear-view mirror. There are also trees, huge rocks and  bushes that end up the focal point of what could be a great shot. 

But, I'm sure we all know, the biggest problem that occurs when you are getting close to civilization is poles. Light poles, telephone poles, doesn't matter. They all seem to jump in front of my lens as I pass by.

Well, I have found the reason they ruin most of my out-the-window photos and it's this truck driver's fault!  As if there aren't enough poles to mess up my photos (like the one in the middle of the shot below),  he's taking more to be put by the side of the roads! I tried to get Hubby to catch up so I could yell at him, but, in all his great wisdom, Hubby declined.

I guess I will have to actually stop the car and get out for photos. Eventually. But, until then, I'm grateful for digital shots so I can delete them without anybody knowing how embarrassed I feel.


Murphy's Law, expanded



 Law of the Alibi If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.



 Law of the Result When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will. 






 Law of Logical Argument Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about. 

 Brown's Law of Physical Appearance If the clothes fit, they're ugly. 

 Oliver's Law of Public Speaking A closed mouth gathers no feet. 



Poor little zipper

Every guy has a moment when his zipper is not completely closed and someone who cares how he looks mentions the fact.  There are many euphemisms for this--you're flying low, you barn door is open--and the point is made. There are several ways to be totally direct about this subject and I guess any response depends on the words you use.

The other day I made this exact point to Hubby by being rather direct, after all, we were standing in the kitchen and no one was within listening distance.

I said: Your zipper is down.

Hubby looked down, patted his zipper and said: Cheer up, chap! It can't be that bad! Poor guy. Things will get better if you have a cheery outlook...at which point, we both started giggling.

Life is not boring at our house.


Random thoughts...

We went to KFC the other day and I noticed that there were actually all the chicken parts in the box! I know that's probably weird for you to read, but after having only seen legs and thighs for a long, long time, it's a nice change. Makes you wonder what they were doing with the rest of the bird....

The main street in Stratford is quite wide--two lanes of traffic, angle parking on either side of the street and a no-man's lane in the middle. Come to find out that it was intentionally made wide enough to turn a team of horses around anywhere on the road without a problem.

I can buy a tiny bottle (about 2 or 3 ounces) of isopropyl alcohol here for $4.00. A bit different from the huge bottles in Wally World for a buck. Some things you just have to learn to live without.

The schools here have many problems. They used to have 'subs' for the high school at a set fee, but now our local high school has changed to a new accounting system and we can't make heads or tails of it. They told Missy that there's no way they can send out 2 statements for any child--like we are the only divorced parents in the country! I'm not a computer expert, but I know it wouldn't take much to copy the one statement and address an envelope. Sheesh.

Speaking of schools, what exactly do they do with the $75 exam fee for each student that is pretty much mandatory? They can preach about costs of the test all they want, but I'm not crazy enough to think it takes that much to print and grade one stinking test.

Boy racers are a problem here in NZ. You have to have identification of the driver before you can complain and expect anything to be done. [Of course, the government can send you a bill for using the new highway in Auckland based solely on your tag number, no matter who's driving. Personally, I don't see the difference.]  I think that if these boy racers are caught driving recklessly more than once, their cars should be crushed, but that 's just me. I was happy to read that the city council of Christchurch is finally taking some responsibility and banning boy racers. Good on ya, Christchurch! You can read the article here.  I hope every city council in the country follows suit.

In an earlier post about tv ads, I tutted the ad for hydroponics, implying I'm smart enough to know it's not used for tomatoes. Well, that company was raided (duh) and you can read about it here.

Sometimes I wonder why Kiwis think they all have to be right all the time. Don't they know that they are human and we expect them to be wrong occasionally? Maybe that's why there are so many stress-related ailments that need attention. I think an 'I'm sorry, I made a mistake' is much better medicine than OTC Losec.

Somebody found an old, dusty law that prohibits helicopters from landing in urban areas. Now the emergency chopper in New Plymouth has to land 13k from the hospital and the hanger that was designed for it, be met my an ambulance and then the patient driven to the hospital. Kinda makes you want to go 'hmmmmm'.