Southland Times - Green Capitalism

Posted 24th February 2014 to the Southland Times Invercargill

I see Robert Guyton is getting flack for being anti-Capitalist in his Southland Times opinions by one Martin McGregor.

You do realise Martin that the Capitalism is a lousy system at the best of times but manages to work despite it’s shortfalls by People
Like Mr Guyton who try hard to make it sustainable and equitable. It is an Eternal Struggle to keep the Capitalist Show on the Road
and to stop it from killing us all by wrecking the Natural and Human environment we all have to live in, setting us against each other, a fact the wonderful Chinese are yet to discover.

Despite what you might think, Humanity is so dependant on this finely balanced system it just can not be changed or altered without
Creating as Global disaster so the GREENS can only dream of Utopia and TRY and make life more comfortable, even if they held power It would just be Capitalism with a Human Face, nothing more, the capitalism switch can not now be turned off.

Fiordland Advocate - Stone Frogs

Posted 22nd February 2014 to the Fiordland Advocate

I have to say I had never heard of the Stone Frog at Lynwood mentioned in the last Advocte.
Years ago I got the job of finding story material for Havoc and Newsboy in our region..
They had made a big deal out of the Stone Turtle on Mount Titiroa and I pointed out there was also a Stone Frog (aka five Finger Rock) above the Burwood Mavora Turnoff on the edge of the Takatimu Mountains and another One in the Earl Mountains watching over the Eglinton Valley visible from the Boyd Creek Car Park..

But the Shows Producer was really Interested In the “Big Bad Rabbit” rock formation above Roxburgh that the Late Helen MacGibbon of Manapouri documented on film.
A Giant Stone Rabbit with a Hollow interior used by Shepards as a Bivy. But asking around Roxburgh It was as if it never existed. So Havoc and Newsboy settled for another Turtle.

This Turtle (also with a Bivy) is atop a Hill by the Fraser’s Dam in Earnscleugh Station at the time Suspected to be the exact Most Inland Point in New Zealand..  But in the end they diverted to the bright lights of Wanaka to film another “Dig” at the town of Gore instead.  Anyway it transpired in my research there are quite a few stone amphibians in the hills and some have strange folklore attached but this time one got a 
Paint Job!

Southland Times - NZ Flag Artists

Posted 16th February 2014

Sir,
Years ago I put forward my own design for a reboot of the New Zealand Flag because I thought it was fun to get our Artists to think about
What our National Identity could look like as a singular creative statement, It’s nice that the Media gave our creative community a chance  to
Show off their Skills, it seems a waste not to put these designs to use perhaps as Celebration Flags or even Postage Stamps.

Sad the Question of Political Manipulation Came up because of the looming election date. I dose seem Odd though that the Design of our Money is not up for
Public Scrutiny or any Artistic Competition, It has been stuck in the 1990s and there are other Great New Zealanders who could be given a turn to be on our Notes.

It’s good to give our Artists something to think about.

The Southland Times - Earthquake Phobia

Posted 16th February 2014 to the Southland Times

Sir,
On the Anderson’s Park Debate:
I agree with the people in this opinion page that perhaps we have all gone a bit goofy about Earthquake risks of late. We simply can’t dwell on every possible danger
that nature can throw at us. If we remove all risk from life we risk loosing the very essence of living. You don’t really want to know what Invercargill has in store for it on the grand timeline of Geo-Technics  if you ask anyone from GNS Sciences.  However this is not unique to Southern Southland and as Humans we have learned to adapt to life’s Hazards by using Perspective and Mindfulness or we would not simply not get out of bed in the morning!

It’s also a numbers Game, Anderson Park Art Gallery is statistically much much safer at any given moment than ANY form of transport.
A bad diet or work stress is far more likely to effect your mortality than getting hit by a falling painting at an art gallery.

that being said, knowing what we know it would be foolish to build a Mega City on top of Invercargill (probably not going to happen anyway)

‘Though bad geology never stopped Tokyo from reaching Number 1 Megacity...  with a little Zen Philosophy.

Listener Magazine - Nation Flag Solution

Posted February 14th 2014 to the NZ Listener Magazine

Sir:
The Problem with the NZ Flag Debate is it is a competition for Artists to Beat their Chest and
Show off how cleaver they are trying to Capture the essence of this Nation onto a Rectangular Piece of Cloth

They Fail to see that the Flag has to float all boats and by that it means compromise for a bit of fun I Made a Flag
That has all the Elements for a perfect compromise but it that also means no artists like it and the Traditionalists would prefer to keep
What they have. And Yet it is recognisable to all as our Flag.

I give to you the Aotearoa NZ Flag.... The hated compromise:

Fiordland Advocate - Te Anau What If...

Posted 13th February 2014 to the Fiordland Advocate Te Anau

I like your Devil’s Advocate Speculation about 1960s Tomarrow-land Monorail Projects getting the Go Ahead.
I wouldn’t get too excited as Queenstown has thrown up a lot of grandiose projects that got a green light
But have fallen over before they got of the Proverbial wayside.

But If one could go back in time and Write a “What if” Scenario
There is a lot of stuff we just would never see coming. What if Fontera never formed, what if Roger Douglas wasn’t Born, What is Auckland was only a Provincial City.
Life in New Zealand would be a whole lot different today.

As for Fiordland... What if the Cave Creek Disaster Never Happened to the Department of Conservation.
And What if the Milford Road was Never Sealed. What if the Christchurch Earthquake didn’t scare all those Rich Tourists on to Cruise Ships... That would be like Science Fiction because everything would now be unrecognisable to us!

There is one “What if” I asked Bob Robertson the First Time he showed up with his Monorail... What if... you used the Kingston Flyer instead Bob?
 Bob could go green and recycle ! 

Dominion Post - Inter Island Ferry Strategy

Posted 9th February 2014 to the Dominion Post Wellington NZ

The Problems with the cook Straight Ferry Aratere could have been overcome if Our Government thought sideways about our Defence force...
What our Navy needs most in this day and age is a Roll on Roll off Supply Ship, For the Defence Force, for Disaster Relief but most important for Back up to keep the Sea link open between Our two Main Islands in case of  Commercial Maritime failure, not to mention a Quick Response Vessel in case of Failure of any of the Hundreds of Visiting Ships to our waters in the course of a Year. Such a ship would be a Great insurance Policy for a country such as ours .

Christchurch Press - Kingston Flyer 2014

Posted 8th February 2013 to the Christchurch Press Canterbury NZ

It’s a darn shame New Zealand’s premier Vintage Steam Train is parked up for yet another Season in the town of Kingston
If Pegasus / Monorail Developer Bob Robertson had only dedicated himself to a Venture Recycling the 1870s and 1930s Flyers instead of knocking up a
Rebooted 1960s Monorail to make a new attraction between Queenstown and Te Anau it would be a great use of Heritage and Scenery.
Sadly Kingston is no longer the best place for such Classic Train and The Wilds of Western Otago are no place for a Urban Monorail System.
The Minister of Tourism knows this and should step in and fix the matter or we will all look silly and there will be angry Voters for no reason.
Our Heritage has taken a Huge Beating with Earthquakes, the State should be more pro-active with preserving it ESPECIALY for Tourism.

Mountain Scene - Edwardian Tourism Reboot ?

Posted 8th February 2014 to the Mountain Scene Newspaper Queenstown

Back in the days of the Clark Government Queenstown and Glenorchy and Queenstown where visited by agents from the Swiss Tourism industry
They looked at what could be done to resurrect the amazing Pre Edwardian era Tourism infrastructure in the Glenorchy Paradise Region, It must have been a mirror of Switzerland When one could take a Paddle steamer up the Lake to a Grand Style Hotel and get guided tours of the then Jura Glacier on Mt Earnslaw.
Whether any business idea where formed about rebooting this era is not known to me but it poses some interesting questions,
Local Politics being one and the “Auckland-ization” of the Wakatipu Area is another, then there is creeping malignant contempt of the past that would no doubt be alien to the Swiss.

All of which is a shame as we lost our South Pacific Switzerland at the top of the Lake half a century ago first with the fire at the Mt Earnslaw Hotel The Scrapping for the PS Mountaineer and eventually the Road Link, which last nail in the proverbial Coffin. What makes it worse is that the New Chinese visitors come here to see how we are and how we use to be, and it’s all burnt out, scrapped and buried. Seems only the Swiss have a working business model for sustained Edwardian era Tourism.

Dominion Post - attn Jane Campion

Posted 3rd of February 2014 to the Domminion Post

I have to say I was fascinated as to why Film Makers where as attracted to the Top of Lake Wakatipu and decided to research the History of the Kinloch Glenorchy Area in the farthest Corner of Otago. I have to say it seems somewhat odd that so much Film and TV footage has been shot there but nobody has bothered telling the colourful lost real stories of this remarkable area long before the first Movie Cameras arrived. It was amazing Jane Campion made her TV series based on a somewhat dark and Twisted version of this settlement, which is also the home of Mainland Cheese adverts, Water Horses, Wolverines, Himalayas Dwarves and Hobbits, but Wellywood never tapped the Horse & steam powered World of Drama and Tragedy as people struggled in abject isolation for a hundred years before the road was pushed threw in 1962 particularly the Community of Kinloch who where the Hosts of the Routeburn Track until 1971 when the Dart River was bridged and the Modern World consigned them to the History books, It is Ironic too how it’s Homesteads inspired Names like Arcadia and Paradise because the area seemed to embody the very heartland of the New Zealand Landscape. Wouldn’t it be nice if a Jane Campion could capture what that essence of Paradise was now that we have kissed it goodbye.

Mount Titiroa - Spiritual Tourism

Posted 3rd February 2014

Though largely unnoticed by he media and the conventional tourist operators
Mount Titiroa near the Township of Manapouri has quietly been gaining a reputation as a
the ultimate Spritual Meditation area in New Zealand.

Every Year devoted Titiroa Pilgrims charter Helicopters to encounter the strange Quartz Landscape
that dominates the Summit region of Fiordland's Lonely Mountain.

In search of rare Earth Energy? You could visit Manapouri the Sedona of the South Pacific!


or contact Solantra King who knows it's secrets.

ODT - Top of the Lake - Kinloch

Posted 1st February 2014 to the Otago Daily Times

I have to say I just read Doreen McKenzie's History of the Kinloch Glenorchy Area in the farthest Corner of Otago. That it seems somewhat odd that
so much Film and TV footage has been shot there but nobody has bothered telling the colourful story of the century before the first Movie Cameras arrived
It was Nice of Jane Campion to make a TV series based on a somewhat dark and Twisted remote settlement which is also the home of Mainland Cheese adverts, Water Horses, Wolverines, Himalayas and Hobbits but there was world of drama and tragedy as people struggled in real Isolation for a hundred years before the road was pushed threw in 1962 particularly the Bryant Family of Kinloch who where the Hosts of the Routeburn Track until 1971 when the Dart River was bridged and the Modern World consigned them to the History books with the help of the Aspiring National Parks Board. Reduced to a Brass plaque where their “Glacier Hotel” Still Stands today as a B&B.

Southland Times - Sugar aint so sweet

Posted 27th January 2014 to the Southland Times

Thank your team for printing the “Sugar Grinch” article from the UK warning us about eating too much refined Sugar.
Unfortunately If you go shopping in New Zealand don’t expect Sugar Free Grocery Items to be available on shelves on a regular basis,
and don’t expect them to be cheap or with useful information on them.

If you get into it, you discover that there are different kinds of sugars and
Every Human body deals with them differently, it seems basic sugars are in everything we eat! Yes that can be a worry and Complicated to deal with
But a good rule of thumb for Healthy People would be to stick to Natural Sugars in Natural proportions, if only the Supermarkets Could supply,
we could have a bit of choice in the matter. This of course is a good argument For Government Cooperative food outlets as part of our National Health Strategy.

So anybody in Politics want to take-on one of the most powerful Industries in the Country? Probably not David Cunliffe by the sounds of it.
Oh yes... Leave the Greens to do all the work, as usual.

PUBLISHED