A Man For All Seasons: A Post Mortem of Sir Thomas More.

A fantastic season of this great play (by Robert Bolt) has drawn to a close.

Performed by members of the Cambridge Repertory Society.

Directed by Dave Stearns

At the Gaslight Theatre, Cambridge, New Zealand.

I went  along to audition for a part, back in June. Dave offered me the part of Chapuys' Attendant, which I enthusiastically grabbed with both hands. This part had a grand total of 8 lines - which made learning my lines a cinch! This gave me plenty of time to work on my visual acting and develop my delivery.

Most scenes I appeared in, were in a non-speaking capacity, as an apprentice, in support of Eustace Chapuys (played by Michael Cole).

Behind the scenes, my role as Chapuys' apprentice also took on another dimension, as I was asked by Dave Stearns to be Chapuys' understudy! This was a contingency plan, just in case Michael was called away at short notice - due to family illness. I learnt all of Chapuys' lines in about 3-4 days!

Fortunately, Michael's relative appeared to remain in a stable state of health. Since I had learnt Chapuys' part, Dave Stearns and Mike kindly offered me the opportunity to play Signor Chapuys for 3 of the performances. As I had only started learning Chapuys' part, a fortnight prior to opening night, I was still in the throes of developing my delivery. I can't help but wonder how much better I could have delivered this part, had I some more time. I still managed to get the job done, ... and I was very grateful for the opportunity.

The acting by the cast was incredibly superb. Everyone suited their roles to a tee.

Some memorable moments:

Dave Moore (who played Thomas Cromwell) injured his back, and required crutches for a few days. He adapted his role of Thomas Cromwell  by accessorizing hinself with a tudor style walking stick - which he continued to use on stage, even when his back had recovered. He was so convincing in the role, that you could have sworn that he really did threaten like a dockside bully!

In one performance, The Common Man (played by Jason Lonsdale) inadvertently introduced Cardinal Thomas Cranmer (played by Ben  Corcoran) as the Archbishop of  Cranberry! This was obviously a portmanteau of 'Cranmer' and 'Canterbury'. Poor Dave Stearns (who played the main role of Sir Thomas More) was trying hard not to laugh - whilst languishing in a jail cell on centre stage!

The Common Man also had to overcome an extraordinary level  of onstage multi-tasking - i.e.  shifting chairs, tables, baskets. lighting candles and pouring drinks, whilst simultaneously delivering his lengthy monologues. A tough ask for any guy.

Richard Ritch (played by Ryan Wolf Holden) appeared in one showing, substituting a misplaced quill with his finger! Darn missing props!

King Henry VIII's (played by Ben Corcoran) delivery of "I have no Queen!" was so impassionate. I can still hear that line echoing off the hills around the Waipa region!

Sir Thomas More (played by Dave Stearns) had far more dialogue than everyone else, yet Murphy's Law stipulated that he must be the one to incur a hoarse voice, due to his efforts in holding off a cold. Coincidentally, it was well documented that Sir Thomas More struggled with an on-going cold, so I guess this just authenticated Dave's superb characterisation of Sir Thomas even further.


Eustace Chapuys' (played by Michael Cole) would occasionally insert substitute lines to replace the ones which had simply evaded his memory! His references to Queen Catherine as "Queen Anne", King Henry as "King John" and describing Latin as an "angelic language" in lieu of a holy language raised a few chuckles. Apparently, Bishop Fisher of Rochester ended up also being known as Bishop Fisher of Rockhampton!

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (played by Peter Carr) was often dealing with unruly candles which would extinguish prematurely ,... oh, and who can forget the 21st century gas lighter gun, used by The Common Man!

 Did I have a clean slate in all this? No way! My crimes were mostly committed backstage.

I inadvertently put on William Roper's (played by Steve McMurray) shoes, prior to an earlier performance. You'd think that after receiving one good reprimand by Steve, I'd have leant my lesson well. But oh no, prior to the peultimate performance, I graduated to inadvertently targeting William Roper again by putting on his t-shirt. Luckily for me, Steve is not of a homicidal disposition!

I just want to say a huge thanks to Dave Stearns for giving me the great opportunity to be a part of this play. And thanks to everyone in the cast and crew for all your support, fun and friendship.

Highlander's Super Rugby Franchise Jersey - Green?

I am opposed to the idea of the Highlanders jersey being overhauled to a predominantly green colour scheme.

The colours in the top have traditionally been blue, gold(yellow) and maroon. This scheme represented the combined colours of North Otago, Otago and Southland.

Apparently, the Highlanders franchise has confirmed the new jersey, which is believed to be light green with a dark blue strip down the sides will be worn as a once-off this season on Friday night against the Western Force in Dunedin, ahead of a permanent move to the new strip next season. This fixture is also the last game of Super Rugby to be played at the 'Brook.

Long term, I reckon that the Highlanders franchise should adopt a tartan pattern based on the blue, yellow and maroon - which could potentially avoid a jersey clash with all the other teams in Super Rugby. Another option, could be a mainly maroon colour with a little bit of blue and gold.

Whatever happens, I sincerely hope they don't do away with the Highlanders logo, and that hopefully, they drop the green colour scheme next year.

Despite having been away from the South Island for almost two and a half years (barring two visits), I still strongly support the Highlanders - through thick and thin. I have a Highlanders flag donning my workstation, at my Waikato place of work.Could the new Highlanders jersey end up looking similar to this All Blacks training strip?

How Many Mountain Bikes Can You Cram Inside The Back Of A Bus?

This is the cruelty we inflicted on all these bikes, during a recent trip to Rotorua.

I received someone elese's credit card in the post.

Recently, Kat's (my lovely wife's) wallet went missing.

As a consequence of this, I had to cancel my credit card and order a replacement card via my bank.

Today, my Australian owned bank sent me a replacement credit card via the mail.

The credit card was held with a special backing adhesive to a letter which contained my relevant details.

I looked at the signature on the card and noticed there was something a little odd ... the digitised signature wasn't mine, ... neither was the photograph. In fact, it was someone else's credit card!

My bank had sent me someone else's card instead of my own!

I dialled the free phone number and explained my predicament.

To cut a long story short, the bank had to cancel the card they sent me, as well as my new card ... which had probably been sent to someone else ... and start again!

Now I've got to wait a few more days for my card to ... ahem ... hopefully ... ahem ... turn up in the post.

Here's an anagram which may give you a clue as the the name of my bank (common short version name):

CAT PEWS

New Zealand Rugby League World Champions!

Wow, this is unbelievable. Most people would have predicted the Australian juggernaut to win the final. But after trailing a narrow 12-16 at half time, the Kiwis absolutely dominated in the second half to make rugby league history and overhaul the Aussies to win 34-20!

Are We Heading For An Economic Depression?

This is a complex matter, so I will approach the topic with this analogy:

In early days, folk would frequently use gold or silver as hard currency. The downside being that gold or silver is awfully heavy to lug around.

For convenience, a person would ask a goldsmith to look after that person's hard currency. The goldsmith would then issue the 'investor' with a paper receipt. The goldsmith would then wait for someone else, who was in need of some gold or silver, to turn up on his doorstep. The goldsmith would then lend the gold or silver he'd obtained from the investor to the borrower and charge them interest.

Furthermore, the goldsmith would then think, "Hang on a minute, I could make even more gold or silver out of this scheme." Subsequently, another person wanting 'a loan' would turn up and the goldsmith would issue this 'borrower' with a paper receipt in lieu of hard currency, and also charge them interest. Furthermore, he would similarly issue yet another paper receipt to a third borrower in much the same manner.

Now the first borrower who obtained the hard gold and silver would use it to purchase a horse and cart. This would enable the borrower to travel from village to village in order to sell his corn. Unfortunately, The horse slips on a wet embankment, breaks a leg and destroys the cart.

This borrower, now unable to sell his corn, has no idea how he can pay the interest due to the goldsmith (never mind the actual loan).

The other two borrowers have their wheat crops destroyed by a storm and an accompanying flood.

The investor, who lost his roof in the storm, now wants some of his gold from the goldsmith to pay for roof repairs.

So what have we got now?

We have one greedy goldsmith, who was charging interest on currency he never owned.

We have one investor and three borrowers, who are now virtually broke.

The investor is chasing the goldsmith for return of his investment(along with interest) and the goldsmith is chasing the borrowers for payment plus interest. However, there is no gold or silver to be found amongst any of these folk.

In the United States, there are banks that have actually lent up to 40,000 times their capital value to borrowers! During times of prosperity, banks and financial institutions are so enthusiastic about lending us money they don't actually have. These lenders need to be start being more proactive in avoiding over saturated lending. This would allow for a softer impact on people and business during economic dips.

In 1928- 1929, during the run up to the Great Depression, the issues facing the United States weren't too far removed from what they are facing now (massive government/business/ personal debt, deflating property prices, banks foreclosing on mortgage and business loans, workers being laid off, car prices plummeting, consumer spending and confidence diving and the value of the U.S. dollar pushing the currency markets off balance). All we need now, are people, nervous about losing their homes or businesses, pulling their money out of Wall Street, which will in turn cause more financial ruin for businesses and banks.

Unfortunately, whenever the U.S. (being the world's largest economy) coughs and splutters, many other nations end up catching a cold.

With the global economy being more integrated than ever, whatever happens to large economies overseas, will have a greater bearing on what happens here in New Zealand, especially since we are so reliant on our exports in agriculture and tourism. Our agricultural products are fetching good prices overseas, due to high food prices. Unfortunately, because of international pricing, it is becoming harder for the average Kiwi family to budget for food prices that have inflated 28 percent in the last year! Ironic, given that we produce more than we could eat nationally. Thus, consumers are cutting back, and the owner of the average family restaurant is struggling ('Eating out' is one of the first sacrifices consumers make, in times of economic decline).

The current food pricing situation appears to be driven by increasing demand in China and India, but also by the diversion of food crops (particularly U.S. cornfields) for the production of bio-fuels. This is ironic, given that the oil prices are also contributing to food price rises through the increased cost of transportation.

In the 1930's, the Great Depression, brought on what could retrospectively be called international trade wars. An example of this was when the United States, desperate for cash, slapped tariffs on imports. Canada, who was a big exporter to the United States, retaliated by slapping on tariffs on all imported U.S. goods. What saved Canada from absolute ruin was the fact that Britain offered Canada, a preferential trade deal (India, Australia, New Zealand and the rest of the British Commonwealth were part of this deal as well). Canada' s production levels still fell to almost 50 per cent ... and Canada's unemployment rate shot to 30 percent by 1932.

It wasn't until armament and mobilisation ramped up leading into World War II, that many nations were able to shake off the effects of high unemployment and low productivity, albeit that prosperity did not eventuate for many until well after the war and the associated rationing had ended.

As a side note, the Soviet Union was virtually immune to the effects of the 1930's economic shambles, due to the fact that it's economy operated in isolation. After the 1919-1920 revolution and civil war, the U.S.S.R. enjoyed continued industrial expansion that continued for decades. The U.S.S.R eventually struck it's nadir in 1990.

With housing, food and oil prices being so high, it is only a matter of time before international deflationary pressure is brought to bear on these products, squeezing the margins of many producers. Meanwhile, people and businesses will continue to struggle with the increased costs.

Developing nations are already feeling severe effects from rising food prices, with an even greater threat of starvation looming over many countries on the African continent. Fuel prices obviously exacerbate food prices even more, through the increased cost of transportation.

Another potentially nasty side affect of rising food prices, is the increased likelihood of riots across the world and even the overthrow of governments. The Prime Minister of Haiti has already lost his job, due to high food prices.

The Great Depression of the 1930's lead to the election of extreme governments in many nations. Some were Socialist left wing and others were far right. Governments with extreme policies had a tendency to send some nations down rocky paths during the 1930's 1940's. However I think I could blab on for hours on this one, so I'll stop here.

In short we need to remember what happened during the 1930's, and initiate strategies to avoid a repeat of what is essentially a nightmare scenario. We need to consciously moderate borrowing and thus avoid a run on banks and financial institutions, during times of crisis. We need to save money. We need to stop living of our credit cards and create financial plans to pay off our debts. We need to view housing as a steady investment and not a quickfire cash crop. We should look at reducing/removing tax on essential items such as food. We should have an alternative plan thought out, in case the global market collapses (e.g. sell and produce more for the domestic economy).

Please note, I am not an economist, I am an economic layman!

Thanks for reading.

Daylight Savings, Hotel Foyer Scene and the Highlanders.

I went for a run up Mount Cargill earlier today. I now feel completely stuffed. Nearly sprained my ankle on the way back down.

Daylight savings ended last night, and it is now quite dark in Dunedin at 8:00 pm. The Autumn Equinox has been and gone. Therefore, in less than three months the sun will set in Dunedin at 4: 56 pm. This means that I can expect to head off for work in darkness and return home from work in darkness.

Hopefully, future winters in Hamilton will mean noticeably longer days, as Kat and I will be moving there in a few months.

Last week, when I was working in Auckland, my employer put me up in a fine hotel. On Thursday night, after finishing work, I was passing through the hotel foyer and noticed one of the hotel staff dealing with a visibly upset guest. The female guest was crying quite audibly and she mentioning something about towels . I thought to myself, "How could anyone get extremely upset over towels?"

Finally, the Highlanders won 29-20 over the Lions. As people often say, there are always those of us, less fortunate, further down the food chain.

A Visible Question, Don't Die in Sarpourenx and A Celebrity(!) Nightmare.

I discovered recently, that I had presented a visible question to a passer by.

You might ask, "What is a visible question?"

The answer is: Me, standing in a supermarket car park, next to my car and holding up jumper lead cables!

In Sarpourenx, south west France, Mayor Gerard Lalanne has posted an ordinance in his Council office that states: "All persons not having a plot in the cemetery and wishing to be buried in Sarpourenx are forbidden from dying in the Parish. Offenders will be severely punished".


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Today, I was surfing the Net, and I stumbled across bizarre information about a New Zealand girl who aspires to be a New Zealand celebrity and/or politician. After I checked many sources, I have composed the following summary of what she has achieved so far:

• 2004 - She appeared in one episode of the reality T.V. show Captive. Viewers and contestants stated that she exhibited unusual behaviour on this programme.
• 2005 - She appeared at an audition for New Zealand Idol singing Malibu "Crash and Burn" by Hole. The judges told her that she was a talent free zone, then she responded by losing her cool and swearing repeatedly as she left the set. [I just finished watching footage online. What a shocker!]
  
• 2005 - She undertook modeling in an explicit photo-shoot for an x-rated magazine. She was paid $400. She was also interviewed about this on 20/20. Her pictures were described by her 20/20 interviewer as being very graphic.
  
• 2006 - She briefly worked as an extra for Shortland Street. She signed a standard terms and conditions agreement that would have included a confidentiality clause. However, she went on to leak information about the show's plot to the public via the internet. She is now banned from Shortland Street. Additionally, she is banned from all programs produced by the production company. She denied that she had signed such an agreement. [When I was a movie extra, I recall signing up to such terms and conditions.]
  

She has also inflamed numerous student magazines, radio stations and internet forums. I have also discovered that she has been banned from at least 14 internet forums.

I dare not mention her name, as I have approached the above topic objectively and flaming on my blog would not be a good thing.

I can only conclude, that she appears to be on a journey towards notoriety.













A funny toilet streaker being tackled by security.

Introduction

Hello.

Welcome to my blog. Here you can talk about sport, humour, world history and travel, heavy metal music, computers and other technology and even random things such as the cruel invention known as Vista or even the struggle of getting out of bed on Monday mornings.