Snippets from NZ and beyond.

It's one of those grey days we get in Auckland, that suffices for winter. usually such facets of nature would be enough to keep me inside, reading, eating and watching TV and eating, plus lots of coffee and eating---oh and cooking stuff to eat. Things have changed for two reasons. Getting a Jack Russell and having the bariatric surgery; both combined to propel me to a new way of living. NO matter what the weather, it is off to the park or at least a walk down the main street of Onehunga under a semblance of shelter, just to 'exorcize' the energetic spirits of the said dog! Before we attempt a sojourn in the park, I better comment on a few 'items' that fluttered before my eyes--from the NZ Herald site. I could of course wax on about the terrible events I see repeated each day from Al Jazeera, but I am increasingly frustrated by the impossibility of ever finding a solution to the Palestinian/Israeli conundrum. That one side will never recognise the right of the other to exist and the latter totally unwilling to negotiate a meaningful solution---then the region is domed to permanent warfare with occasional outbreaks of peace. So you can assume that rockets are being launched from Gaza and the response from Israel is to rain drone-impelled bombs on innocent civilians, killing in a totally disproportionate manner. No one can win this! IN NZ we hear today that a young boy injured horribly in a school based attack from another student has finally woken from a coma. We have floods in Northalnd that surpass anything in living memoery, leaving many withiout power and wondering what 'Mother nature' will throw at them next. Climate change, maybe! It is Dunedin, the city in the south of New Zealand and once our biggest city is in the headlines as being a shining example of how we should preserve our wonderful old buildings; well old for us that is. This city was once NZ's biggest and it seems that it is undergoing a modern-day revival. This gracious old lady shows up Auckland as the ;tart of the north.' Oops--me thinks I will be ducking a few verbal bombs for that one! Now another sacrilegious observation. The same paper reports that many mums and dads are persuading their offspring, particularly of the male kind, to look askew at our 'national game---RUGBY. We have had yet another sad death of a young person, resulting from a head injury. Now, parents are pressuring the kids to look at soccer--OK---'Football,' as a safer option. Time will tell if that becomes a short term blip or a tidal wave of change. Finally, as I have been clumsily typing this blog, I have had the BBC news on and they are talking about the 'resurgence' of coffee as a beverage of choice in London and they are attempting to persuade me that Starbucks is the epitome of the coffee culture. Yuck, is all I can say. I have it on good authority that if one wishes to sample 'good' coffee in London, then they better find an establishment run by an Italian or better still expat Aussies and New Zealanders, the home of the best cup of real coffee! www.authorneilcoleman.com

Jack Russell. SLEEPING!

Jack Russells do sleep---don't they! You decide. Look at the picture---closely! She's been reading Roskill and she just told me to tell you to download ROSKILL by going to my website ( www.authorneilcoleman.com ) and either buying the hard-copy or downloading the eBook. Of course, if you do the former, you get the latter -- free. Perdy just said---'tell them yourself!'

Snippets from NZ this weekend!

I didn't want to go out at all this nasty Saturday, but of course I did! I took 'you know who,' out for a quick perusal of things on the par; not the Bay in Onehunga but the one near where I purchase my coffee beans in MT Eden. In shall be posting on a little secret I learnt today about the best use' of my trusty AeroPress. She, 'who must be obeyed,' looked at me as if I was confirming my stupidity when we pulled into eh car park and I let her out. She ran briefly, into the centre of the 'green,' then headed for the trees where upon I spent the next five minutes trying to coax her to fetch the ball she had dropped whilst seeking furry creatures. I finally bribed her to bring it back and I sneaked it safely in my pocket. By now the rain was falling at a pace just above steady, a state that persuaded me that retuning to the car was the only sensible decision. I opened the car door and after a circuitous ramble amongst the tress where even the rats had sought more comfortable climes, Perdy decided that enough was enough. Now that I am back home, ensconced in warmth of my little home, I have perused the headlines and have arrived at the important decision that, the world can keep its bombs, political intrigues and I shall spend the day pretending that 'all is well.' That my friends is the state of MY day to be! Now, I shall conjure up a satisfyingly warm meal for tonight, based round a chicken, Moroccan seasoning and chicken. www.authorneilcoleman.com

How to tire a Jack Russell!

I have often wondered what takes to tire out a jack Russell, without causing permanent harm to the owner----me! As that little guy on TV form yesterday said---'The plan, the plan!' (Yeah I know---a bit of 'licence apparent here) 1) Get up quite early and let her out for her 'whatever the ell she does outside.' 2) Have my breakfast and throw the ball around the lounge while attempting to eat the said breakfast. 3) Stick her in the car and take her to the park down the road, let her out and chuck the ball down the hill ---the one she always brings back. 4) Have a coffee with a friend then go to another park; this one with a long circuitous route around a large water feature, with added Pukeko (sorry Cathy!) 5) Arrive home only to get a message that you and the Jack Russell are need for a photo shoot. 6) Take the JR into the building, or more correctly, she takes me in---on a leash. they don't want me running around lose after all! 7) Spend the next hour having pictures taken, first in the park across the road from the magazine, then down at the rose gardens where the JR looks everywhere but at the camera and even when she poses correctly, I don't, so it all begins again! 8) We finally wrap up the shoot and leave the photographer to what ever she does best and head on down to the beloved Onehunga Bay. Perdy, the Jack Russell charged her batteries----oh no! 9) Upon arrival at the Bay, she jumps out and demands In thrown the ball with my trusty little 'chucker.' 10) I decide she has had enough, read----'I have had more than my share of exercise!' 11) I encourage Perdy back into the car using my last 'treat,' only to observe her best friend arriving in a car Perdy knows means---'company!' 12) I drag myself around another circuit of the bay, talking with my fellow 'doggie-mum,' passing useful and energetic comments about how the day has gone and what awaits me for dinner. 13) Perdy seems to have found a whole new lease of life and gaily (That word is still applicable in this sense? I suppose it is when one uses that spelling!)gallivants after the ball and playing 'chase me, big boy,' with her mate Finn. 14) The wind increases and the first drops of rain begin to splatter against my sun glasses. (So I wear such devices on a grey day---deal with it!) 15) Perdy allows me to escort her back to the car and after fond farewells, we leave for home. 16) We have been home barely 20 minutes and an Argentinian dear friend arrives. Perdy loves guests. Will she ever---rest!? 17) He leaves after some lovely chat time and an exchange of views, and does she finally give up? HELL NO! She wants me to throw the ball! Can you tire a Jack Russell? I don't know--you tell me! www.authorneilcoleman.com

Brutal liquor store attack criminals have been identified!

A week ago four teenagers went into a liquor store in East Auckland and brutally assaulted the worker, just to get a few bottles of booze. They are all aged between 14 and 16 years old. This crime does not have its origins in perverts or lack of opportunity. It is a heinous crime that included terrible violence and resembled something that we see for overseas. There is going to be the usual discussion about how these kids may or may not have been brought up. Fingers will be pointed but we must look at the bigger picture. There are some 'absolutes' in this. What they did is wrong at every level and there can be no excuses for their actions; no justifications. They have damaged their own lives; that is if the 'Youth Court' takes their actions as serious. The public is going to demand a swift and hard response, because if they don't see that, a message will go out there that this sort of behaviour is somehow 'explainable.' Yes we know that these 'kids' need help, but initially they must take the consequences for their actions. None of us are safe when young people or anyone else thinks that they can go into a shop and enact such actions of deplorable violence. One would hope that once caught the law will take firm action and that massive efforts will go into turning the lives of these 'thugs'; around. I make no apologies for labelling them thus. I do however believe that we need to make the effort to change them. After all, they will come out of whatever institution' they are consigned to. one day and be neighbours a fellow-workers, because if they don't change, then the statement the police made about the perpetrators facing a long life behind bars will become a fact! www.authorneilcoelmean.com

Danny Watson---thanks mate! ZB Talk Back gave me a boost!

I am no longer a 'talk back virgin.' Today I was listening to Danny Watson on Talk back radio as I was driving. He had the topic of dieting/'exercising, versus pills and surgery to lose weight. He asked for people to ring in. I rushed home (no I didn't get a ticket!) When I arrived home I immediately rang the radio station and got through to the producer. Hell, I hear some people saying they have been trying for hours or days to get through, so I guess I struck it just right. The guy told me they would ring me back after the news. True to his word a few minutes later I was talking to Danny Watson. I always thought that I would be nervous, but I did not feel that at all. Danny was lovely and he encouraged me to tell my story and half way through I reminded him that I had sent him some copies of my three books. He remembered and then let me push them along with my story. I put my website over the waves and he repeated it later. I thank Danny very much for his kind and generous reception. I shall ring him again, to comment, much like I do on my blogs. OMG---has he unleashed another monster inside me. Watch out talk back radio!

'A top' of Mt Roskill, whereupon I froze my tits off! OH the life of a 'model'---yeah right!

When MiNDFOOD asked me for some 'before and after pictures' for the upcoming article re my bariatric surgery journey, I asked a good friend form Grey Lynn to help out. He has a camera that has the required capacity to take such photos. As the book I am pushing, ROSKILL (Even the article has a few mentions of it)is centred in MT Roskill, it seemed to be logical that we include the said Mountain in the pictures. So off we went and off came my jacket. OMG---the wind just about blew what little hair I have to the next suburb but thankfully I had glued it on well that morning! My friend proceeded to instruct me to assume various poses while my nipples slowly froze and my eyes watered as if there was a sack of onions being peeled nearby.IN fact, I felt like a sack of onions! He didn't want just one picture---oh no---it had to be about a million and by that time I thought that if I had not lost so much weight, I would have transformed into a glorious fat kite and flown off to other regions. Finally I was allowed back ion to the warmth of the car and we left the summit and as we travelled down the narrow road, I was reminded about some of the 'scenarios' from ROSKILL, the characters almost visible in the trees and slopes of MT Roskill. Later that day, I revived an email with the pictures attached. They were 'well taken,' but when I sent them to the magazine, they said that I looked a 'bit windblown,' but they thought that they were 'fun pictures.' They may use one of them but we agreed that they would use a more sedate setting to take some more and that I could drop in to the office, with Perdy, my jack Russell, and they would take some more at a nearby less wind-devastated park in Parnell. BUT---In shall keep these pictures. They tell me much about my journey! Maybe they will take them on the Prime Minister's lawn. I'm sure he wont mind! Thanks Martin. www.authorneilcoleman.com