Dare to be true to you

I have been trying to juggle much over the last few weeks and there are times when I feel that I am doing it with ease and then come the times when I am feeling that I am so not in sync with what I am doing and the tasks before me take on gargantuan dimensions that seem insurmountable. So at those times I keep putting one foot in front of another and keep going. All the while hoping that the course I am on is the right one for me, that the course really will be the one that brings me the joy and satisfaction I desire.

I have sensed a growing concern over the state of the economy and over a growing communal fear about the credit crunch and financial state of the nation and world.

Fear has an incredible hold upon many people. Each of us have fears about something or other. Fear can hold us back from accomplishing things, can prevent us from experiencing joy and happiness, can determine the course of our lives in a large measure.

A wonderful person once gave me a picture of a drawing of a mans head and a simple question that said, "What are YOU afraid of?" She gave it to me and said don't let fear dictate your choices. She explained that she had experienced some major life changing things and felt her fears polarised her to wanting to just die, literally. Seeing a broken person or a soul who feels they have nothing to live for is hopeless and tragic. There is no prosthetic made for that. This picture she got from a newspaper saved her life, by providing her a catalyst for her to want to change.

What am I getting at I guess is that I try always to look for the silver lining, it is rarely very easy. I love life however, I love the indomitable spirit of mankind that rises high, and is tested and refined in adversity. I marvel at people who overcome incredible odds and win. I am not necessarily saying the gold medalists, or the academy award winners or people that receive reward, acclaim or adulation of the masses necessarily. I refer in large measure to the forgotten ones, or the people who receive no reward or praise. The people who make a difference to other people, the people whose very lives are to serve. My thoughts go to full-time carers, doctors, nurses, people who willingly adopt children that nobody else wants and many, many others.

I have pondered recently about Angels. I truly believe that they exist. I have certainly known and met many who are very much here in a mortal state, but I also believe they exist in a higher form or state as well. I have not seen any extra terrestrials but I sense that they're there to help us if we have the desire to see their handiwork. I have been blessed and gratified by so many people who help me without wanting anything in return. i just have a heart that is full and find it hard to convey how I truly feel about so many people. I have been humbled by average and ordinary people who make a difference to my life by simply doing what they do. The garbage I put out tonight, to the sanitation, water, farmers, electricity workers, designers, architects etc etc. I once used a text book in biology at high school called the web of life and it was something I referred to often in my senior school studies and it always reminded me of how we are all connected and special. It is my continuing belief that we are.

The clips below in a round about way highlight something of what I am trying to illustrate, albeit poorly I suspect, that we can rise up to achieve whatever we have our hearts set upon to do. I love to see dreams come true, I love to witness the magic and power that radiates and touches all in those beautiful moments. I have tried to point out that sometimes those achievements will be only known to a few, and will not incur the standing ovations and public awareness, but no matter how hard things may seem, no matter how hard and low you may feel, Keep going.

Like Annie sung in the film of the same name,

The sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there'll be sun, just thinkin about tomorrow clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow, til there's none, when stuck with a day that's grey and lonely, just stick out your chin and grin and say, the sun will come out tomorrow so you gotta hang on til tomorrow come what may, tomorrow, tomorrow I love ya tomorrow your only a day away.

We can encourage others, we can truly be a light to the world, biblical references notwithstanding, we do it by being the best we can be. Whether there is gloom on the horizon, whether there is not enough money in the wallet to meet your obligations or whether you just sometimes feel inadequate, suck it up and believe in yourself, believe that you do make a difference, and be still and KNOW that you do. There are people whom you may never realise that look to you will be affected and touched because you are true to who you are. It doesn't matter that you are not Megan Gale or Elle Macpherson or Brad Pitt nor does it matter that you have hardships or difficulties that seem to swallow you. There is a way to be happier if you are not right now. Just be the best person you can be! Don't try to compare, there will always be better and worse than you. If it rains, remember to dance in it and enjoy it. Choose to be happy, choose life!


Andrew, is a gifted young man who inspired me and many in this clip. I have watched it many times and still get tingles from this young mans performance. I loved his desire to be different and not to be on "the streets anymore". Simon, said" Andrew, you are better than you think you are. Take it from me you are good!" Powerful stuff when there are people who believe in you, what can we accomplish with that belief from others.


Charise Pempengco, what an amzingly gifted and talented filipino whose innocence and beauty radiates as her dreams began to unfold. I had to change the first link as the person disabled the link after I posted it. This link isn't as clear, being that it is copied from a TV screen but well worth watching this young girls dream unfold on Oprah, it is short, but you can see the power of a young girls dream to meet her ShEro (female Hero). I love that her tears and embarrassment are real, and reach deep into your soul to the point where I totally appreciate what that feeling is like.


Paul's Dream came true as well, from a humble phone salesman to a singer who touched the world. There are not enough superlatives to describe the many levels I like this on, but it is very inspiring to me.

What about your dreams?...or even mine?
We only get one shot at life, give it your best.

What do we want?

Life is such an interesting journey. There are people whom we know and many more we don't who wander through each day trying to avoid getting hurt, getting stressed and who hope to slip below the 'radar'. To a casual observer, it might well appear many people are wanting not really to live, but to simply exist. Seemingly people are generally afraid of the occasional bump and grind of bumping into people or objects. It somehow calls to mind a scene I saw at a show we have each Easter called the Royal Easter Show, where dodgem cars or bumper cars have a big pavilion. In it, people drive with the object of avoiding a collision. Whilst me on the other hand loved the collisions. It was harmless fun that brought much joy and happiness, not only to me but also to others. I love seeing people who start off upset and stern and in a few moments soften and smile, then laugh.

I am often intrigued by the behaviours of people.

There are many times when people in a conversation will listen to you only so they can wait for a break in what you say, so they can interject and add what they are thinking about or feeling. In such situations one can be found asking the question "do you know what I am saying?" only to be met with a "yep, yep, but can you understand what I am saying?" . One can go around in circles speaking much and never reaching a point of conciliation or real understanding. In those situations people often feel isolated and disconnected, yet the very essence of what we all want is often sabotaged by nobody but ourselves. It seems on the surface that we exist largely in a series of monologues, eager for everyone to understand us but having little or no presence of mind to want to understand others.

Whilst reflecting on this I was sitting on the steps of a city church checking my emails when I was again wrenched back to the city streets in amazement at the growing number of people walking past garbage bins and reaching in to find food. I have been so oblivious to the numbers of people that are doing this and my heart again went out to them. I looked at the passers by who avoided the street people as if to hopefully avoid smelling, or touching them. I saw one woman with her trolley of what looked like junk to me but represented all her earthly possessions scowl at all of the passers by. I walked deliberately up to her with her bottle of cheap wine and cigarette and said hello, which instantly bought a smile to her face, then I spoke with her. I asked if she was hungry and she said I would love a toasted sandwich. I couldn't find a place nearby that had one, so not wanting to return to her empty handed, I just got her some cakes and returned to her and she asked can I give you anything?. I choked back my tears and said simply, 'no, you already have given me something'. 'What is that?' she said, I smiled and walked away.

What she had given me was the opportunity to see. The chance to see her, the growing numbers of people in need and all in my city that I love. She gave me the chance to be of service. I am so very grateful for all that I have, and again affirm that the distance between us all is so very small. If I hear another person use the excuse that they choose to be here and therefore are devoid of my care, concern or assistance where possible I will just scream.

Remembering

I grew up around people who were exceptional in their young fields, and I was rather unexceptional, or so I thought. I thought I would share some insights into the people who I rubbed shoulders with.

There was one guy called Luke, who was one of those infuriating people who did everything he said he would. He could play the piano, sew, yes sew!, he could cook, and was gifted I thought with above average intelligence. He would stand before the others and I on some days and say the eve before a sports or swimming carnival, I will win the 200 metres, the 400 metres and the 800 metres races...and he DID!! He said many things growing up to me that I still reflect on often. Small throw away lines for him that my minds deep recesses have never abandoned. I reminded Luke of some of those things when I saw him last year, and he shook his head and said how did you remember that. I don't know but I did. Luke now has a PHD in Music and of all things now lives in Utah and sings as one of the many voices of the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Then there was Russell. This guy was a more "down to earth" guy I thought, and was always close to me and another guy I will refer to shortly called Adrian. Russell was a good thinker and became an assiduous reader and studier, but always knew how to have fun. He ended up working for Nasa, and someone told me at a wedding I covered a few weeks ago that he is now running a corporation in Chicago. Good on you Russell.

One of the girls names who I won't mention here who always used to say I was fat, is now somewhat less attractive!!! How cruel of me to say that, I know, and I do not mean it maliciously, it was just a sweet and sad feeling to see her one time at a wedding and when I was no longer fat, but she seemed as though she had aged unnecessarily much in the intervening years. Her husband still looked the same. I won't suggest he caused it, but I was sad also because she was a stunning young lady way back when. A side note is that she has 4 stunning daughters. One of them looks identical to the lady I grew up with. I mentioned to her that she looked so much like her mum and she smiled and said I hear that often, it was like going back in time. Weird, but nice.

Then there was Adrian, this young boy then and I are still close friends. We see each other most weeks. He is also a very talented young man who played the violin, plays the piano and lived in a home I still remember VERY well. He has brothers and sisters who are all so radically different from him. I reflected my thoughts and his differences to him last week and he mused that we were "different" shapes in the mold we lived in. I paraphrased a little but the result is correct. And thus it was or maybe even is. Adrian did very well in his studies, now lectures in University and has his own souvenir business. I enjoy Adrian's wit and his sense of humour. I am so glad we are friends. His girlfriend Sandra became his bride and worked hard and achieved a PHD and is now a keynote speaker in Spain, South America and I think has even been to the UN - not sure on that one. I knew them before they were married, and I am convinced that whilst I know Sandra likes me is always shaking her head when Adrian and I get together. We're still boys. And I love that we are. The nature of our talks has evolved over the years but I still have very warm memories of being around him, and still enjoy his company very much.

Then there was Jene. She was a doll, I liked Jene. She was a good person, and still is. I see her occasionally and still enjoy a laugh and a hug. She once picked me up with another guy called Garth and was driving us to the beach, she said I cannot have an accident today as the insurance lapsed yesterday. D'OH, famous last words and yes we had an accident. But not just an ordinary accident, the car slipped on the moistened road surface and spun around hitting a 3 foot embankment on the side of the car and then the car flipped and rolled onto the roof. I remember with vivid detail opening my eyes and looking out the front window as the window smashed in as we landed on the roof. Luckily all of us had seat belts on, the only problem was that doors would not open and when I took the seat belt off I came crashing down on to the upturned roof, injuring my neck, and then had to climb out of the car through my window. I recall a man running toward us with a smoke in his mouth as petrol was leaking out of the tank, and I said don't smoke. Loser!! Incidentally , my neck was in occasional pain for a few years until one day I was in a fight at school and was in a head lock when the person yanked my neck and I could feel the relief and it has never given me trouble again! How strange.

Then there was a guy whose name I won't mention, who was such a talented guy, could play the piano, could sing and could do soooo much, I envied this guy, and he became interested in drugs and then became an addict of sorts. I haven't heard from or about him in years, and I miss the guy I once knew. Lis C knew him well. Lis C who comments here on the blog on occasion, knew this guy very well. This guy I refer to, Robyn, Karen, Lis C and I formed a singing group that performed in a fashion show once and even a major department store many years ago. I will post pictures up here soon I think. The group was called Eden.

Then there was Lis C. What a dynamo this young lady was. I loved Lis's spirit and freedom. She is of great Irish ancestory and had a spirit and zest for life that I have never forgotten and whose care and concern for others stays with me still. She impacted my life in more ways than she could possibly know. She is a pocket rocket, said with the most respect. I admired her perspectives which I thought were like mine and very unique. I am glad we're still friends. Then there was her brother Jim who became close to me. Jim bought me a ticket to John Denver in concert as a birthday gift one time and we got to meet him as well which is a thrill I have never forgotten that helped spur me on to repeat that feeling many times over since that time with other artists. Jim and shared many conversations and experiences. He has his own imaging business in Queensland and has become a very successful person in his field. We even shared some brief but special moments as missionaries in the Philippines. He has become very busy over the last few years and the memories we shared may have dimmed for him a little but I still have much warmth, love and respect for him.

There was Robyn and Karen, Robyn was my girlfriend for a long time a great person, and her sister Karen and I occasionally talk on the phone. These two ladies were great and still are. They have had lives go in a very different direction from the way we all once thought and imagined all those years ago, but they are still here and still doing the best they can. I am proud of them.

There was Kathy, who was a beautiful girl, and still is. She has several kids and is happily married. I met with her at a wedding I did recently and it was such fun. I love enjoying the sweet memories I have of my youth, I love seeing the people I grew up around. I love that I no longer feel inferior to any of them, I love that I had many interesting times and experiences with them all, they have all helped to shape who I am and I thank them without reservation. I love them all, and then some. I am in a sentimentalist mode at present and could not get them out of my mind and so, have added but a couple of lines to tell the world how special these people are to me for a variety of reasons.

It occurs that there are also other people whose names I haven't added in here, but I will do a part two another time.

Beware of the Bear

This is an interesting practical joke that is rounded off very nicely.

Free Photo Booth

How funny is this!

Lewis Morley

At the exhibition with Nafisa Naomi on Tuesday night I had the chance to meet and photograph the world famous and accomplished photographer Lewis Morley. I will include some biographical data about him and some of his famous pictures and do a sum up at the end.

Photographer Lewis Morley deftly captured the spirit of '60s Britain, writes Robert McFarlane of The Sydney Morning Herald.

Myself and Eye, on show at the new lakeside exhibition space of Canberra's National Portrait Gallery, surveys Lewis Morley's long and serendipitous life as a photographer.
Morley appears to have enjoyed at least three lives while successfully pursuing two discrete careers. Born in 1925 to an English father and a Chinese mother in Hong Kong, he grew up as a member of the most privileged Eurasian class in the then-British colony, until his adolescence was rudely interrupted with internment by the Japanese army in 1941.
"People say life in the camps was terrible," Morley told me recently at the National Portrait Gallery. "But I was lucky. I worked in the kitchens at Stanley Internment Camp and got extra food. I also had a girlfriend in the camp. And you could trade anything for a couple of cigarettes."
When Morley was a teenager, his photography was only a hobby practised on a plastic Bakelite Brownie camera. What really interested him during his captivity were drawing and painting with watercolours. "I used to swap cigarettes for paints and paper," he said. "My drawings weren't very good but it was a start. I still have some of those pictures."
After the war his family were repatriated to London, where he enlisted in the Royal Air Force. The dandy in him justified his choice of becoming an airman by declaring, "I look better in grey."
When he left the air force, he studied commercial design, enrolling at Twickenham Art School between 1949 and 1952. Five years later, he was accomplished enough with his Exakta and Leica cameras for Norman Hall, the influential editor of Photography magazine, to publish six pages of his pictures, praising him as the latest young British discovery.
But it would be the next decade that established him.
He became friendly with the comedian Peter Cook, who offered him studio space above his satirical nightclub, The Establishment. The comedian would become both a regular subject for Morley and his friend and landlord.
Quite by chance, Morley found himself near the centre of social and artistic change in London.
His early style reveals him to be more than competent as an observer of people - witness his 1957 picture of a rainswept bride being led into a London pub, or an elegant 1958 observation of a lone newspaper reader in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris.
But he would soon reveal a distinctive talent for studio portraiture. His 1963 nude of Christine Keeler, softly lit as she straddled an Arne Jacobsen chair, quickly became a symbol of the fragile politics of the '60s.
But looking past this image's notoriety (it has been published hundreds of times throughout the world, often without Morley's permission), it is still remarkable for the calculated, intimate response Morley coaxed from the political courtesan who had just ruined the career of a British minister, John Profumo. "It was the very last shot on the roll," Morley told Myself and Eye's curator, Magda Keaney. "I was walking away and turned back. She was in a perfect position and I just snapped it."
But Morley later admitted to me: "I never found her sexy, though. She reminded me too much of Vera Lynn!"

He produced fine portraits of other key '60s figures - an earnest, peach-faced Susannah York caught in close-up in 1965 and an apparently mundane portrait from the same year of Andre Previn.
He showed the slightly chubby young musician sitting at a hotel room table scattered with breakfast debris.
What lifts this image for me is the precision with which Morley captured Previn's introspection.
A commission in 1961 to take publicity portraits for the Beyond The Fringe satirical revue led to another memorable picture - of the comedian and musician Dudley Moore. "I was photographing the four boys [Moore, Peter Cook, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller] and I looked around and Dudley was lagging miles behind," recalled Morley. "I shouted, 'For Christ's sake, Dudley, come on!' and suddenly he hunched over and posed like the Hunchback of Hyde Park and I snapped it."
Magda Keaney explores these natural extremes in Morley's subject matter, such as in a shot of two naked young women quietly smoking marijuana at a 1965 London party.
Many of his London photographs are similarly artless observations with little sense of having been directed. However, Barry Humphries received special treatment in 1963. For his friend, Morley created a slightly surreal confection in which the facade of The Establishment nightclub was superimposed over the wanly gesturing, lank-haired satirist. The resulting image now seems excessively mannered, but undeniably of its time.
Morley is rightly acclaimed for his documentation of '60s Britain, but a second, longer career began when he and his family emigrated to Australia in 1971.
Keaney ignores the prodigious interior and food photography produced by Morley for BELLE and Woman's Day, concentrating instead on the portraits he made for these and other Australian women's magazines - including the influential POL, itself the subject of a parallel show at the National Portrait Gallery's Old Parliament House space.
For his Australian portraiture, Morley embraced and mastered colour photography, producing a number of valuable observations of significant Australians. His 1975 portrait of Junie Morosi (far sexier than Christine Keeler, Morley confided) conveyed her sensuality and intelligence in equal measure.
His best pictures flow from a certain playfulness with the camera, reinforced by his ability to establish rapport with disparate subjects. His work attempts to capture joyfully the nature of experience, a philosophy also espoused by the late French photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue, whom he now rates above his first inspiration - Henri Cartier-Bresson.
As we left the gallery, I asked Morley what he thought about his life's work, now that it was finally on display. He smiled, then replied that if he walked into the show and didn't know who took the pictures, he would have said "Not bad!"

These 4 pictures are all of Barry Humhpries with his 3 alter egos taken by Lewis Morley. If you can get one they sell for around $15,000.

As I indicated at the start, I got to meet and chat with this wonderful man. I said to him how I admired his work, what he had done and who he has come to know through his work. He said, "You are passionate about this aren't you?, to which I responded "yes, it honestly helps get me up in the morning!" He said, "you know, I feel guilty when I meet people like you, and others I know who have talent and are passionate about what they do, and have not achieved what I have". Curious, I asked for clarification. He added "I feel guilty because, I am not passionate about photography. I sort of fell into it because I wanted to be a painter. It is not something I planned on". Then he said to me almost to convey a secret, "would you like to see what I use these days" after glancing at my camera and large lens. I said "sure", thinking he would allow me to visit his studio or home and then he slyly parted his jacket and produced a small Kodak digital camera and said, "this is what I use these days." I asked if I could take a picture of him with it, indicating I would send it to Kodak, he said "sure", and we had a face off of cameras taking pictures of each other. I sent it to Kodak, and they loved the story and will publish it with my images in their Kodak Expressway publication, in the next issue.


A lady in charge of the Art trust of Sydney approached me saying how much she regretted not having a camera to take a picture of Lewis and I taking a picture of each other. It was a moment in time that she froze in her imagination. I shared the mental image of the moment. It was a great thrill for me. Simple, but very special for me. Lewis smiled and said; "all the best to you, keep working at it!".....and I shall. Thank you Lewis.

A post script note here is, that an observation made by another media presenter in Sydney, said something that made me agree, that Lewis is devoid of an ego at all. He is a warm and genuine man who made me and everyone else that drew near to meet him, feel warm and important. A rare experience and one that I shall not forget in a hurry.



I have included a picture here as well of me with the wonderful Maria Venuti, who was also at the gallery. What a wonderful lady she is.

Nafisa Naomi

On Tuesday night I had the opportunity to attend a gallery exhibition opening of the paintings and sketches of a very accomplished artist called Nafisa Naomi.

What an artist, what a lady and what an inspiration. I came to know Nafisa through my work with the Jeans for Genes events where she has painted pairs of jeans for charity for several years and her last pair of painted jeans were signed by Cameron Diaz which sold for $30,000.


Nafisa had asked me to photographically cover a couple of events in the last two weeks ending with her gallery opening which was in Artarmon in Sydney's north. I am a fan of her work and the diversity and expression imbued in her work is just beautiful. Nafisa has a medical background, she is passionate about what she does, which is exciting for me to begin with. She reached a point one day in 1984 whilst doing her medical degree when she could no longer quiet the inner voice to paint, and in the ensuing years she has been prolific. Nafisa is recognised locally and internationally as one of, if not THE best artists in the country. She is also President of the Portrait Artists Association in Australia and shows no signs of slowing, thankfully!

These are some of her works at the exhibition and are shown here only to illustrate, albeit poorly, as her work has a quality and a detail that can only be appreciated by actually seeing and experiencing the artwork.











Nafisa has been commissioned to do some portraits one of which was of famous photographer Lewis Morley, and won her a prestigious First prize major award in Western Australia called the Black Swan prize for Portraiture this year.
The large piece of art done in black and white was on display and the photographer Lewis Morley was there himself. More on him in the next post.



There was also a portrait of Australia's and I guess one Italy's most flamboyant and talented entertainers. Nafisa captured Maria Venuti, a woman who is very well endowed with the ability to have a husky, rich voice who can sing, entertain and help others. Most people in this country know here from the rather large endowment of measurements to her figure, but when you realise that she does so much for charity and see the person that Nafisa captured, and I got to meet, you see a woman who is selfless, caring and full of life.




It was a wonderful exhibition, and in a coming day I will have some of those pieces of art hanging in my home. I am afflicted with a sense of knowing what I like, and it is invariably manifest to me PRIOR to knowing the price, but they often are the most expensive ones! Oh well, I like what I like.


Nafisa with Jacinta Tynan, journalist, who opened the exhibition.

Lastly, I am honoured to know Nafisa and value her and her work highly. I look at this wellspring of talent and beauty that radiate from within her and believe that it is truly beautiful. A thought I have not been able to pass over lightly, is the thought that if she is producing this work only a few years after she started painting, what work is yet to come from this exceptionally talented lady?

Bring it on Nafisa!

Art is a lovely process and I am so grateful to have found a mode of expression that I love.

A quote in retro

an email just sent to me says this....

Quote of the Week
'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.'
Thomas Jefferson 1802

interesting ha!

Credit crunch in the UK

A friend just sent me the drastic news about the credit crunch in the UK. It is sad and unseemly that the monarch should be reduced to this! Saints preserve us!!!

Please don't ask if fries come with that!! hehehe A good bit of light hearted humour.



please note that the image is NOT one I created but received in an email. I disavow any knowledge of the origins and this representation will not be destroyed in 10 seconds

Sunrise

Just thought I would share these pictures I took at sunrise on the NSW north coast at Port Macquarie last Friday morning. I went for an early morning walk on the beach and am entranced by nature's majesty. This was at 5:45am. I had to do some mentally engaging work before 9am and thought I would refresh and the walk amidst natures sunrise was just the thing I needed.

Sydney International Car Show

Last week I had the opportunity of going to the Sydney Car show. Owing to an interstate dispute over whether the show should be held in Melbourne or Sydney, some 18 car makers from Europe pulled out and said sort out the one place where it will be and we will support it. Basically, it costs manufacturers millions of moulahs to exhibit at these shows and they cannot be at two shows. Matt P, told me the background on that. So Audi, Rolls, Mercedes and many others simply were not there and I think the show was poorer for their absence.

Thankfully I did not pay to go in, one of my friends and clients gave me a ticket in for which I was and am, grateful for. I would have been disappointed to pay though, with just the cars on offer. I think it seemed like half of the offering or display they have had in previous years. Just thought I had better clarify that as a re-read suggested I wasn't grateful to get in for free, which could not have been further from the truth.

That said, I am including some cars here with pictures that I took. The Orange car is worth $2.1 MILLION!!!! and I don't give a tinkers toss if it goes so fast and whatever, I just kept on thinking How many people could be given small cars and would benefit from that amount of money on a single car! Forget the cost of spare parts, service and insurance! I didn't like it much at all. Then the yellow collage is the famous Pagani Zonda, both the orange Koenieggsegg and the Zonda are considered to be in the top 3 fastest road cars in the world, the Bugatti Veyron the other. Ho Hum, Where in this country can you go at 160km on the road let alone 418+kms p/h what a joke!







I did however fall in love with a remake of an old british classic called the Morgan. The Morgan Aero is a wonderful car, and I would love one. With a price tag of ONLY $255,000 ozzy it is much more conservative and classy than the aforementioned cars at multiples of this price.

Considering I could barely afford the wonderful Audi I have, it will be a long time in the current climate before I could even dream about the Morgan, but I loved it!








The New Holden Couple with a common stainless type finish. Common at the show with other manufacturers anyway.



The Lamborghini Gallardo which I photographed one time before.



The Lamborghini Murcielago at a cruisy $800,000!



The Ferrari California. I thought the back of the car looked like a robots face, have a look at this one below.

RIP Common Sense

I received an email with the following editorial and felt it was well worth sharing.
It is not new that I am a believer that common sense is not so common.

THE SAD PASSING AWAY OF COMMON SENSE

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault.

Common sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn ) and reliable parenting strategies ( adults, not children, are in charge ). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.

Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Panadol, sun lotion or a sticky plaster to students; but could not inform the parent when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches become business; and criminals received better treatment then their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from burglars in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife Discretion; his daughter Responsibility; and his son Reason.

He is survived by three stepbrothers, I Know My Rights; Someone Else is to Blame; and I'm A Victim.



Note many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

Happy Birthday Mum Grace!

Three posts in one day! I didn't feel I could include this small Happy Birthday wish for Mum in the previous post.
We are going to breakfast with her in a short while, and this is my tribute to a great woman who today turns another candle! Love you lots Mum.

She may like me putting up a shot of her in her hey day on Hayman island.! Have a good ay Ma.

Aaron Mathew, my Brother.

A few years ago when I had been welcomed back to the family of my birth on the Marae, I started thinking about the brother that was number 15, I was number 14 in my birth family. His name was Aaron Mathew, and I will not name his adopted family name.

It got to the point when I could not erase his name or imagine him from my mind. It was not scary or anything at all, it was just that he seemed a constant, yet polite, intrusion into my consciousness, for two years. I asked questions about him as he had died when I was very young, I was about 4, I believe.

There are no pictures that anyone in our family has of Aaron, as he died when he was very young.

He fell from his high chair as it was explained to me.

One of my sisters, Nita told me that she remembers how Aaron looked, as she played the organ at his funeral. Aaron was adopted by a couple who at the time had no children of their own and in the 60's in New Zealand raising children from friends or families for Maoris was a common practice. I am not totally sure about the details of why these people particularly wanted this child from my birth parents but they did win the confidence of my parents and were able to adopt Aaron.

My adopted mum Grace and birth mum Vera recounted a story to me one time about a time they were sitting in the dining room of our home, when on a sunny day as they gazed out the large dining room window chatting, the tree in the front yard shook strongly and almost on cue I apparently came from underneath the table and stared at the window and said bye or something like that.

They later found that at the same time that incident occurred Aaron had died. As they recounted that story to me, I knew it was true. It was like hearing something I knew had happened but had forgotten. It was at that moment as though I remembered it happening. It is a strange feeling to describe but I just knew it did.

And so, fast forward to the reunion many years later, when I felt the bonhomie and love that eminated toward me from the family, my thoughts for the next two years were centered on young Aaron. So as I was returning to New Zealand I determined that I would find him. I asked questions of my sister Olive, who said we would go and have a look. I told her of my thoughts concerning Aaron, and my feeling that he felt left out, by saying "what about me?" So with Olive, brother Bruce and brother Wayne, we drove the 3-4 hours as I recall to find our young brother. When we arrived in the city we went to the local city planning office, who sent us to the registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Interesting aside here is, that the title of that department is listed in that order. Shouldn't it be the department of Marriages, Births and Deaths? Anyway, I digress.

Once we gave the directions they found that Aaron was in a particular cemetery and we could find him by going to that grid reference.

We did that and could not find him still, we then went to the sextant's office in the cemetery who said that Aaron had been in an unmarked grave for some 33 years, our little brother. How truly crest fallen and sad we all felt.

Bruce mentioned once that he once entertained the thought of being cremated and scattered but the impact of being around our brother who had no outward reminder that his earthly remains were here was heart wrenching and I think it impacted strongly on all of us, and helped to alter Bruces view as well.

I can report that Aaron is now "listed" he has a plaque and I am pleased. We phoned his adopted Mother after this experience and expressed, politely, yet strongly that we wanted to seek permission to get a headstone or plaque for Aaron, she reported that she had been tossing this around for some time and was going to do it. Whilst I held reservations after 33 years that she would actually do justice to our young brother, she has, and I thank her sincerely.

I felt at that time that Aaron rejoiced that he was found by his birth family. I felt it to be akin to my own feeling a couple of years before at the reunion. My heart was full then, and still is now that we had made the effort to find him. He never permeated my consciousness much after that time with the same persistence as before, I took it to assume he was happy and content now.

I have a feeling I wrote about this before in a post but will not go and find it, but felt for the last day or so Aaron is near again, and as I write this I don't know if his passing anniversary or birth date is around this time, but I feel it important to in some small measure let him know I think of him....still. I doubt he reads my blog!!! But I just wanted to radiate my feeling to the world and hope that somehow he might know of my love and feeling toward him.

I love my family members. All, including me, are difficult to understand at times, but are all people who at the very basic building blocks of ones soul are very generous and loving people.

True, that may come through rough passage on occasion, we may all do things that are baffling and beyond understanding to many if not ourselves at times, but I try not to judge them or me, too harshly, but try to accept them for who they are. People who would do anything for me if they knew I needed them, and I love them individually and collectively.

A newsflash just in confirms the body found in a Dubrovnic harbour in Croatia is that of missing Australian backpacker, Britt Lapthorne. My thoughts and prayers go to her family and friends. Life is much shorter than we realise, enjoy each other and live each day to the full as it comes.

I mentioned once before in a previous post that we always know when we have firsts in life, the first time we kiss, first time we drive, but we never know when the lasts will ever happen do we.

Why do people fall for it?

I have been receiving a significant increase in these stupid unsolicited emails. It used to be I would receive a bucket load of emails about breast enlargements or other prosthetic improvements to ones anatomy and then came the male performance drugs for viagra, or cyallis and then there was no end in sight. Thankfully I was wrong. A country I had rarely heard of, Burkina Faso has saved me from the medical related body improvements and hit me where I really take notice, my wallet.

They have been bombarding with these stupid emails below. They have done so with amazing zeal, and I figure if I get 35% of nothing it still leaves me with nothing right? WRONG. Send your info to these nasty losers and you will lose even more, and truly be left with nothing. I had one person approach me via my website insisting I help him with photography and asked me to do him a favour, he would like to buy some photographs from me and then while I am at it could I buy a couple of mobile phones and send them with the prints. He offered to pay by credit card, and so I processed that. The next day I get a call from my bank saying the credit cards were stolen numbers from the Bank of Israel. I thought great, I will now have a bunch of Israeli's after me! The bank asked whether I had sent the goods yet. The answer was a clear no. I had told the client that I would not buy anything or send it until the funds were cleared. So I was lucky.

PLEASE people, any company, or any organisational email that is sent to you unsolicited, that is asking for your details, no matter how innocuous it may appear, the details will be used against you. Even if it appears you have won $1,000,000 or GBP in an obscure lottery overseas, just send your details and it is yours! Rubbish. Last time I looked in this country you have to buy a ticket in a lottery to at least have a chance to win. These people are charlatans waiting to fleece any unsuspecting and hopeful people afflicted by the world wide concerns over money at present.

I have supplied this email I received this morning, and have removed the return email address lest I inadvertantly contribute to the stupidity. PLEASE don't be sucked in by this obscene behaviour. The one thing I do admire about their emails is the proper spelling and grammar. I am in awe of the stupidity and gullibility of people who fall for this nonsense time and again.

DON'T YOU FALL for it!

I have included a US story from MSNBC which shows the nature of how these crooks operate, and shows that even well educated people are falling for these scams. It is my sincere desire that my post here will add in some measure to stopping anyone falling for these scams.

TREAT AS URGENT PLEASE !!!!!!!
FROM THE DESK OF DR ALHAJI DANCO
BILL AND EXCHANGE MANAGER
BANK OF AFRICA (BOA)
OUAGADOUGOU - BURKINA FASO
DEAR FRIEND,
I AM MR.ALHAJI DANCO,THE BILL AND EXCHANGE MANAGER IN THE BANK OF AFRICA (BOA), OUAGADOU-BURKINA FASO,IN WEST AFRICA. WITH DUE RESPECT AND REGARDS,I HAVE DECIDED TO CONTACT YOU ON A BUSINESS TRANSACTION THAT WILL BE VERY BENEFICIAL TO BOTH OF US AT HE END OF THE TRANSACTION.IN THE BANK HERE I DISCOVERD A VERY HUGE SUM OF MONEY BELONGING TO A DECEASED PERSON, A FOREIGNER WHO DIED IN A PLANE CRASH WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY SOME YEARS BACK HERE AND THE FUND HAS BEEN DORMANT IN HIS ACCOUNT WITH THE BANK HERE,WITHOUT ANYBODY TO CLAIM THE FUND EITHER A MEMBER OF HIS FAMILY OR HIS RELATIVE.
I KEPT THIS INFORMATION SECRET WITHIN MYSELF TO ENABLE THE WHOLE PLAN AND IDEA I HAVE BEEN NURSING OVER THIS FUND IN THE BANK HERE TO BE PROFITABLE AND SUCCESSFUL DURING THE TIME OF EXECUTION OF THIS TRANSACTION.THE AMOUNT INVOLVED IN THIS DEAL IS TEN MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS($10,000,000).MEANWHILE,ALL THE WHOLE ARRANGEMENTS AND STRATEGIES NEEDED TO HELP YOU PUT CLAIM OVER THIS FUND AS THE BONA-FIDE NEXT OF KIN OR BENEFICIARY TO THE DECEASED, WILL BEFORWARD TO YOU UPON YOUR ACCEPTANCE TO EXECUTE THIS BUSINESS WITH ME.I WILL SEND YOU ALL THE NECESSARY INFORMATION THAT WILL HELP YOU MAKE SUCCESSFUL CLAIM OF THIS FUND AS SOON AS YOU INDICATE YOUR INTEREST AND WILLINGNESS TO ASSIST ME AND ALSO SHARE THE GREAT BENEFIT TOGETHER WITH ME.
IN FACT,I COULD HAVE DONE THIS DEAL ALONE BUT BECAUSE OF MY POSITION HERE AS A CITIZEN OF THIS COUNTRU AND AS A CIVIL SERVANT(BANK WORKER), WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO OPERATE A FOREIGN BANK ACCOUNT.THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY RAISE AN EYE BROWN ON MY SIDE DURING THE TIME OF TRANSFER IF I WANT TO CLAIM THE FUND MYSELF ALONE BECAUSE I WORK IN THIS BANK.THIS IS THE ACTUAL REASON WHY IT WILL REQUIRE A FOREIGNER AS A SECOND PARTY,WHO WILL FORWARD CLAIMS AS THE NEXT OF KIN WITH AFFIDAVIT OF TRUST OF OATH TO THE BANK AND ALSO PRESENT A FORIEGN ACCOUNT WHERE THE SAID AMOUNT OF MONEY ($10,MILLION UNTED STATE DOLLARS) WILL BE TRANSFERRED INTO AFTER DUE VERIFICATIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS IN THE BANK HERE.
I WILL NOT FAIL TO INFORM YOU THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS 100% RISK FREE, ON SMOOTH CONCLUSION OF THIS TRANSACTION, YOU WILL BE ENTITLED TO 35% OF THE TOTAL SUM AS GRATIFICATION, WHILE 5% WILL BE SET ASIDE TO TAKE CARE OF EXPENSES THAT MAY ARISE DURING THE TIME OF TRANSFERRING THE FUND WICH WILL INCLUDE,TELEPHONE BILLS, INTERNET COST,TRANSPORTATION COST, ETC, WHILE 60% WILL BE FOR ME AS THE INITIATOR OF THE DEAL.PLEASE YOU HAVE BEEN ADVICED TO KEEP THIS TRANSACTION VERY CONFIDENTIAL A TOP SECRET AS I AM STILL IN SERVICE AND INTEND TO RETIRE HONOURABLY FROM SERVICE AFTER WE MIGHT HAVE CONCLUDED THIS DEAL WITH EXCELLENT SUCCESS.
I WILL BE MONITORING THE WHOLE SITUATION HERE IN THE BANK UNTIL YOU CONFIRM THE MONEY IN YOUR ACCOUNT AND ASK ME AND MY ENTIRE FAMILY TO COME DOWN TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR SUBSEQUENT SHARING OF THE FUND ACCORDING TO PERCENTAGES WHICH I HAVE CLEARLY INDICATED AND FURTHER INVESTMENT,EITHER IN YOUR COUNTRY OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY YOU MAY ADVICE US TO JOINTLY INVEST.
ALL OTHER NECESSARY INFORMATION WILL BE SENT TO YOU WHEN I HEAR FROM YOU.
PLEASE I SUGGEST THAT YOU GET BACK TO ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE,STATING YOUR INTEREST CLEARLY ABOUT THIS TRANSACTION.
THANKS AND BEST REGARDS.
YOURS FAITHFULLY,
DR ALHAJI DANCO

LIST YOUR FULL PARTICULARS ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Full Name:______________
Address:______________
Occupation:______________
Country:______________
Telephone:______________
Sex:______________
Age:______________
Bank number:______________

Windows messages

I do not use windows personally, I loathe the errors and clunky functionality compared to Apple's Mac platform. That said a good friend sent me an email with messages that have been tweaked that often appear on windows computer screens. I thought they were funny and have reprinted them here. I did not create them and the party who did was not identified.