But who can blame them?

Death threats against kids. Bikes stolen. Track and facilities trashed.

Papakura living up to its South-Auckland reputation.

Very sad to hear, as I actually raced at Papakura at least once, I think...

I feel bad for the kids, parents, and the people behind PBMX. The little mongrels guilty of this sort of crap are probably just a drop in the bucket, however.

So after being paged shortly before 2am this morning and spending the following 5 or so hours tied up at a rather substantial blaze down in Lower Hutt I got home to a household that was pretty much awake. Thus I am now on my 18th continuous hour of awakeness after all of 3 hours sleep prior...

Suprisingly alert, actually, but will sleep well tonight!

In other news, ... when I was in Auckers back in July, Dad had a package for me:

This game, among a few of the other old board games from my childhood were finally shipped to me in the last few weeks. And after some minor repairs that I waded my way through, bleary eyed, the game is up and running, just as I remember. And Laura is already hoping to get some practise when i'm not round, so I hear!

Good times.

I'm not sure if I subscribe to the idea that there's a huge maturity issue for drivers. Ive no doubt that there is one, but im not sure that moving the driving age upwards will help.
I do concur that moving it up is a better option than extending learners license period, however. Your ability to graduate from learners to restricted is assessable by the instructor who passes you on your restricted; perhaps the focus should be on improving the assessment???

I do know that I learnt a pile more useful things when on my restricted, because that is when i gained the freedom to learn without being under someones nose constantly. Freedom is key to young people.... as is the ability to drive unsupervised by the time you leave school and start commuting, either to university/polytech or to work.

There's no silver bullet here but I hope the govt listen to the will of the people on this one.

The headline is 'Texting Lights Fuse on Teen Party'.

It should say 'Alcohol lights fuse on Teen Party'. Or maybe the headline is right, but the focus is wrong; if Texting lit the fuse, Alcohol was the explosive!

"With the arrival of extra staff and police dogs, a skirmish line was formed to disperse the crowd which comprised of mostly intoxicated 14 to 16-year-old youths."

Why're unsupervised 14-to-16-year-olds being allowed to get drunk and cause such a mess that additional police in riot gear are required?! And that Police are getting pelted with bottles?

Sorry but the problem there wasn't the Texting - which is where attention was drawn by the headline. It was in the Alcohol, and the fact that commonsense goes out the window when too much of it is consumed. Add in the fact that we're talking about Teenagers with limited sense of moral (and physical) responsibility and you've got your powder keg.

Man I feel old!! But seriously!

Official Police Release.

Despite the careful phrases used, it is almost certainly the missing girl, Aisling Symes.... and I expect that all of New Zealand is now comiserating with the family.

Sad, sad stuff that's got a whole nation glued to the news.

My respects to the family and friends.

Party On, Dude!.

Good frigging grief.

Some choice quotes:

""My legs are fully damaged, like hard out," he said."

... yes... Third degree burns to a goodly portion of your legs, is 'fully damaged, like hard out'.

"Mr Dixon said he'd thrown petrol on fires "for years", but it had "never come fully back at me. I found out this time that it does."

Gee, when you pour an accellerant onto an open fire, dya THINK it might cause some risk to you?

As for his mates pouring Alcoholic Drinks on him to put out the flames...

Stunned, I am.

""It's just what I'm like. I love parties; drinking, smoking, everything, drifting and all that.""

Mate, if you survive to age 30, i'll be impressed.

(The only credit I can offer is that you actually thought to recognise the people who helped you survive your experience. I suppose that's better than being entirely oblivious to the stupidity of your actions - and perhaps your lifestyle?)

Prestigious Black American arrested for 'disorderly behavior'.

Ok, so he was trying to 'break into' his own home.

People arguing 'If he was white, he'd have never been arrested' need to get a grip. The guy was asked to identify himself to Police who responded to a report of someone 'trying to break in'.... he refused to identify himself.

How the hell are LEO's supposed to establish that the guy does infact live on the property if he wont provide identification?

Since when does this become a racially motivated issue? What's colour got to do with the mans own stupidity, for not cooperating with the Police?

Sigh....

I have to admit I didn't know about this until this morning.

But Rick Smith - who narrowly missed being killed in an explosion some 20 years ago - is a colleague from the Amateur Radio world.

Interestingly, I'm pretty sure I also know the Security Guard who saved his life back-in-the-day, when a substation at Defence Headquarters at Stout St, Wellington, exploded. There's a more detailed article, too.

Kudos to both of them for keeping their tradition alive.

As has now been widely reported [NZ Herald] a house which had been relocated to a Marae in Manurewa (my old 'hood) collapsed on workmen, killing two.

Interestingly, just the other week an old classmate of mine from highschool had come down to Wellington and we were reminiscing; she was telling me how her childhood home had been sold to the council in order that the land could be used for other means, and the house was being relocated to a marae to be used as a health centre.

Yes, same place!!

Scary to think I'd actually set foot inside the house that collapsed...

Stuff has additional photos etc.

Just to prove how reliable the media can be when dealing with the Swine Flu issue...
Wyld sent me this...

*It's a killer flu, it's an aggressive flu, it's a mild flu, it's a bad cold;

*Tamiflu doesn't work at all against it because it's a different kind of flu, Tamiflu works if you take it before the symptoms appear, Tamiflu works if you take it in the first three days;

*Those hardest hit are actually people with healthy immune systems fighting it off, those hardest hit are the immune compromised, those hardest hit have native American blood;

*It's from pigs, it has nothing to do with pigs;

*It *might* mutate.

Can anyone say 'FUD alert'?