Phillip McKenzie

'The Aesthetics of Dispersal' was a phrase coined by Photography writer Peter Ireland, when describing some of Peter Peryer's work. Peryer himself says it is not the objects and their randomness that is of interest to him, rather the spaces in between them.
It is really the spaces that are important in this photo, but not for the reasons you may think.
These balloons were released at the end of the funeral service for Phillip McKenzie. The balloons are the same colour as his car, which he was rebuilding at the time of his death, 10 days ago.
The spaces left by this 20 year old are considerable. His family and his partner will be the first, then his workmates, then those in the Volunteer Fire Brigade, to which he was dedicated. And all the clubs he was in, gun club, bike club, and so on.
But also the community at large, as Phillip was a popular and affable young man.
The pattern of these balloons is random. Each tracks it's own way. One can not predict when or where they will end up.
Like us.

Original art

I have written many times here that we live in a very talented community. Recently, I was invited to the opening of an exhibition by artist and dress maker Sharon Gilchrist. We have known Sharon and Ken for many years, in fact Sharon made our Teresa's formal dress. But what I did not know what just how good an artist she is. The exhibition contained lots of very original work, in many different mediums.
In the above photo, Ken and Sharon explain one of the works not for sale. It is their family history. And because I know them, I could see it.
I thought the most outstanding painting was one of a dandelion seed head, which had been half blown away. The attention to detail was outstanding. But it was for sale as part of a set, and we have nowhere left here to hang a set.
Brian Patrick, the Director of Central Stories, told me today the exhibition had been very well attended.
I am not surprised.

Off the field

Over the last few weeks when I get time I have been following the Dunstan High School First Fifteen Rugby team. Mostly I use an old and fairly slow 70 - 200mm lens, which when on the D300 seems to be about a 100 - 280mm. I overcome the slowness by upping the ASA, one of the main advantages of the digital era.
Anyway, during a quite exciting match against Gore High School, I was forced to share the touch line with some quite vocal Gore High supporters. It is fair to say that I am not one to say or shout much from the sideline, but these guys seem to have no problem telling the Ref what to do in quite loud voices. I have several friends who regularly referee rugby games, and they tell me that for the most part they do not hear most of the 'stuff' from the sideline. But as can be seen in the above photo, referees sometimes do hear what is said. I am not sure what the rules are, but I am sure this ref did. He blew his whistle and walked off the field of play, and 'consulted' this supporter in no uncertain terms. I did not hear what was being said, but what ever was said, worked, and the stream of quite foul language stopped.
I know that in the Auckland area there has been a concerted effort to 'educate' the spectators on the side lines of school boy rugby games. I hope we do not have to do the same thing here.
By the way, Gore High School won the game, so it was hard to see the point of all the abuse.

Stoned

The first blog I ever followed was written by one Dan Steinberg. He was at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, and wrote several times a day on his adventures around various events. From memory, he worked for the Washington Post. Anyway, one of the teams he met and took an interest in was the New Zealand Curling team, ably lead by a Central Otago curler, Sean Becker.
I found this blog by Googling the team as I was a bit brassed off with the coverage we were getting on TV here, as they would leave the game halfway through and go and show  other events, most of which had no New Zealanders competing at all.
Steinberg fancied himself as a bit of an expert on cheese, and when he heard that New Zealand was awash with cheese, took the interest.
When the curling team returned to New Zealand, a concerted effort was made to build a purpose built rink, so they could practice all the year round. The argument of where to put it was short, and it finished up being built at Naseby, Central Otago, as the climate there meant it could be run relatively cheaply. In a very short time the funds were raised and it is up and running, and a very good rink it is too.
I went there with a bus load from Alexandra, almost an hours drive. The above photo of Allan Fleury about to let his stone go is not that great, but it is much better than my curling.

Easter Bunny

One of the events taking place in this town during Easter is a massive rabbit shoot. Organised by the Alexandra Lions Club, this event has been going for 10 years or so, and is very well supported. Teams of 12 come from all over the country to shoot as many rabbits as they can in a 24 hour period. Each team must stick to the block of land allocated to them, and some blocks have more rabbits than others.
Rabbits were introduced here in the late 1800's, and have cost this country millions of dollars since.
The winning team, pictured above, shot over 2,000 rabbits in the 24 hours. The hardest part, says one of them, was picking them up.

Bob's Party

The much advertised birthday of Bob L deBerry has taken place. A good crowd of people gathered at his house at Cambrians to help him celebrate. I was probably the last one to turn up, as many appeared to have been there for tea, and had probably eaten Bob out of house and home. However I had the fireworks, so was made welcome. And there is nothing like Bob's home brew to replace any hunger I might have had.
The above photo is of one of his Woofer workers presenting a birthday cake. I was dismayed at the size of it, but it was evidently the second one presented, the other being a Danish cake, presented by a genuine Danish cake maker.
Other photos are on Bob's blog, the link to which is on the right of this page.
Thanks Bob, great party.

You talk funny 6.

Last year I wrote several posts on this subject. This time I can describe the outcome of this story.
In the top photo is the Lions Hero Award.  This award  was started by Lions International President Al Brandel, and is awarded to the district world wide which has the best project.
The lower photo is much more significant. Holding the trophy is Genny Hanning, who is New Zealand's national director for the Hart Walker project. 
At the Multi district Lions Convention in Ashburton recently, Genny explained that the honour of winning of this trophy belonged to all New Zealand Lions.  However, I noted that there were quite a few who thought that Genny alone deserved the trophy, as the project she runs has been shown to be world class. Regardless, history will show that to be the first time winners will set a standard that will be difficult to attain in future.
Genny is indeed, an everyday hero.

On top ...

Sometime in the 1920's, my Grandmother, Josephine Nolan, climbed Mt Taranaki, or Mt Egmont as it would have been known as then. I have no details regarding this climb, only that it happened.

Sometimes as a parent, one despairs at some of the things one's children do. I know my parents did, and I presume it is the same for all parents. But sometimes there are unforgettable moments of pride in what offspring can achieve. One of these moments happened for us in January this year, when our two youngest topped Mt Taranaki. Seven and a half hours, including half an hour on the top. I mean these guys were 16 and 15, so it was a really good effort.

They tell me that it was cold and windy on the top. This does not show in the very good photo Patrick took while there. A little of the terrain, some of the view, and mostly the climber, Michael. Well balanced, Patrick.

The lower photo I took on the track on the way down. The mountain in the background is impressive, as was the feat.

Alex Dunbar 3

For four months now, I have been planning this post, and am dismayed to sit here looking at this photo, and not knowing how to start it.
Several days ago, the 8th of May I think, was the 65th Anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. And we have just passed Anzac Day again. So it is a good time to finish the story of Alex Dunbar. Readers should be aware that this is the third post on this subject, and maybe to get a bit of background, you should read the other posts on that subject on here. Just put 'Alex Dunbar' in the search space at the top left hand corner of this blog.
In early January, I was able to take the above photo. Denis Dunbar, my Dad, Donald J. Lamont, and David Dunbar standing outside Denis's house just out of Mercer. We had just spent two hours sitting out on the deck, looking out over the Waikato River, the railway line, the main road. A pleasant lunch. And talking about Alex Dunbar, his life, his death. I think Denis and David, both nephews of Alex, appreciated it.
Maybe, one day, someone will sit and write the whole story, but this forum is not the place. It would take more time than I have. There is a lot of research to do.
The internet is indeed a powerful tool. This meeting would not have happened without it.

Missing bits

Two months ago I was photographing a group of people having a good time at Borland Lodge, on the edge of Fiordland. A lady came up to me and said that she was sorry that I had not posted anything on my blog since New Year, and gave me a gentle chiding. I explained that I had made a resolution that I would not do anything on my blog as long as I had work to do.
A month ago, the same lady came up to me when I was taking photos at Ashburton, and again expressed regret that nothing was appearing. She said that others had noticed as well.
When I got home I checked, and found that I had passed 500 readers, and wondered where they all came from, as I very rarely get comments. I was wondering if the effort was worth it as sometimes it takes days to prepare a post.
During a discussion with another blogger, I learned that starting a blog was easy, keeping it going was the hard bit. One runs out of things to write about, he said. I do not agree with that is my case, as I have lots of material.
So now we will get back into it.
Thank you for the 'gentle chiding'.