Psyberspace » New Zealand

Greetings to all Save the Mokihinui supporteMokihinui

Walter — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:47:41 +0000

I just got this email from Debs Martin.

This is a cause worth getting in behind!!

Greetings to all Save the Mokihinui supporters

(and apologies if you receive this email more than once),

Thanks for your efforts over the past few weeks to pass on the message to Meridian that damming the Mokihinui is unacceptable. Over 2600 emails have been sent and numbers are still rising. March 31st is the last date for sending an ecard – so let your family and friends know!

How else can you help us win the battle?
To assist with the Environment Court case, we have
just launched our Save the Mokihinui shareholding
campaign.

You can purchase one of 140 limited edition shareholding
certificates (featured left) of $100 each – securing your
part in the battle to save the Mokihinui River.

Beautifully illustrated, the certificate encapsulates all that is valuable in the Mokihinui – from its enigmatic great spotted kiwi to its earthquake-shattered limestone gorges.

We hope this certificate will be an important piece of Mokihinui memorabilia in years to come as a reminder of battles won!

To buy your certificate and virtual plot click here.

Warm regards,
Debs Martin
Regional Field Officer
Top of the South
Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of NZ Inc
03-989-3355

Watch, Wait, Wonder

Walter — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 05:03:43 +0000

Approach to child psychotherapy

watch-wait-wonder-Cohen_Lojkasek_Muir.pdf

Allowing private insurers to compete with ACC

Walter — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:52:27 +0000

Interesting interview on the Govt plans for ACC with Hazel Armstrong on Nine to Noon showing up the appalling plans to make the country worse.
Allowing private insurers to compete

More from Hazel Armstrong here: http://www.hazelarmstronglaw.co.nz/reports.php

Librivox: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Walter — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 02:07:28 +0000

Brothers Karamazov is now in an audiobook! This mammoth task has been completed, thanks many readers and Rainer.

I read this book in 1967, at the Cragieburn ski-field where I was a custodian. I was upstairs in the sleeping loft of the ski hut, and often there would be a loud party downstairs. I’d read it by candle light or with a torch. I made notes! I may still have them. It was part of a few years of delightful self education, prior to going to the University of Canterbury, which by comparison was like a padded cell of the mind, though I have no regrets. I am looking forward to hearing the book read to me.

Click for larger image.

I have converted the mp3 for the first book into iPod Audiobook format (keeps track of where you are up to). Book 1 m4b Audiobook format

Links follow to the download page, Librivox, notes on a stage production where I found the image, and Wikipedia – where there is an excellent summary of the characters & their various names!

LibriVox » The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky:

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821-1881) Translated by Constance Garnett (1861-1946) The Brothers Karamazov (Russian: Братья Карамазовы) is the final novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, and is generally considered the culmination of his life’s work. The book portrays a parricide in which each of a murdered man’s sons share a varying degree of complicity. The Brothers Karamazov is a passionate philosophical novel that explores deep into the ethical debates of God, free will, and morality. It is a spiritual drama of moral struggles concerning faith, doubt, reason, and modern Russia. Since its publication, it has been acclaimed all over the world by thinkers as diverse as Sigmund Freud, Albert Einstein, and Pope Benedict XVI as one of the supreme achievements in literature. (Summary by Wikipedia)

LibriVox » Blog Archive » And Karamazov Makes Two (Years):

And Karamazov Makes Two (Years) By cataloging The Brothers Karamazov, LibriVox has now made two full years of free public domain audiobooks available to the world. That is, if you started listening to our catalog today, and listened 24 hours a day, it would take you two years to get through our catalog. By which time, I hope, we’ll have another two years for you to listen to.

Review: The Brothers Karamazov/Lookingglass Theatre | Newcity Stage:

“Animals could never be so artistically cruel as man,” Ivan, one of the brothers K, offers to his religious brother as what will eventually serve as evidence for God’s non-existence—and is something of a hypothesis for Dostoyevsky’s novel. What’s so admirable about this Lookingglass production is that, moment to moment, it rises to the level of artistry needed to sustain an epic-length and predominantly verbal exploration of such cruelty—and its antidote. The story, of course, is a heavy, dark and unflinching look at the terrible things people do to each other, with a patricide-murder-mystery plot providing a trial that damns everyone for being guilty for everyone else. Cleverly, director Heidi Stillman doesn’t try to counteract the verbosity and constant philosophizing, but instead works somewhat subordinate to the text, and in so doing creates a punk-stylized, sexy production with a fluid set that acts like a set of illustrations for the narrative, and keeps up with the play’s fever pitch. The acting sometimes borders on the frenzied or melodramatic for longer than is comfortable—but hey, that’s what Russian literature seems to do best. (Monica Westin)

The Brothers Karamazov – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Major characters
[edit] Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov

The father, Fyodor Pavlovich, is a 55-year-old “sponger” and buffoon who had sired three sons during the course of his two marriages. He is also rumored to have fathered an illegitimate son, Pavel Smerdyakov whom he employed as his servant. Fyodor took no interest in any of his sons. As a result, they were all raised apart from each other and their father. The murder of Fyodor and the ensuing implication of his oldest son provides much of the plot in the novel.
[edit] Dmitri Fyodorovich Karamazov

Dmitri (Mitya, Mitka, Mitenka, Mitri) is 28 years old, Fyodor’s eldest son and the only offspring of his first marriage. Dmitri is a sensualist much like his father, and the two men’s personalities often clash. Dmitri spends large amounts of money on debauchery-filled nights with plenty of champagne, women, and whatever entertainment and stimulation money can buy, soon exhausting any source of cash he comes across. This leads to further conflict with his father, who he believes is withholding his rightful inheritance, and his lack of money will cast suspicion upon him in the murder investigation. He finally comes to the brink of murdering his father when they begin fighting over the same woman, Grushenka. He is close to Alyosha, referring to him as his “cherub”.

Withdraw all troops from Afghanistan

Walter — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:24:03 +0000

This statement from Peace Action Wellington is worth supporting. Even now. They are saying they’ll be there for 5 years. Out now, IMO! Peace Action Wellington are asking for an email so you can be added to the list. I’ve just sent one.

STATEMENT: Hands off Afghanistan! Say no to SAS return to Afghanistan

We are encouraging organisations, grassroots community groups and individuals to sign on to our anti-war statement below. If you would like to add your name, simply email us at

peacewellington@hotmail.com

Full statement from their website follows:

The redeployment of Special Air Service (SAS) troops to Afghanistan is shameful. We are opposed to New Zealand’s political and military intervention in Afghanistan. Along with the spybases at Waihopai and Tangimoana, the soldiers in Afghanistan are the New Zealand government’s main contribution to the so-called ‘War on Terror’.

In three previous deployments to Afghanistan, the SAS participated in ‘direct action missions’; this translates to combat involving the death of civilians. Only a few days ago, it was revealed that the SAS handed over 50-70 prisoners to the US military in Afghanistan. The torture of prisoners by US forces in Afghanistan is well documented. In handing over these prisoners, New Zealand may in breach of the Geneva Convention and the UN Convention against Torture which prohibit signatories such as New Zealand from transferring them to countries that torture, humiliate or degrade prisoners.

The occupation of Afghanistan is a stunning disaster for the people. After eight years of war, the country is in ruins, the people of Afghanistan are being murdered on a daily basis, and political stability is as far away as ever.

We demand the withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan and support the right to self-determination for the people of Afghanistan and their right to live in peace and a decent standard of living.

Real Estate developoments! Moves.

Walter — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:18:49 +0000

We are in the process of getting a new venue for the Horse Riding. We have a plan of moving ro a beautiful little valley site about 10 K past Tai Tapu – near the Blue Duck Café – (was Black Tulip)

To make all this happen we are selling two properties in Christchurch.

A 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom Apartment in Hagley Avenue its on Trade Me looks good.

We also have one in Nicholls Street in Shirley. It is for sale and for rent! Trade Me CRT

Kate and I have been working hard, to make sure we are doing the right thing. And yes, Parkhill will be a great place for us. I’ll post some picks up of this romantic new place!

The places we are selling have absorbed a lot of our time & energy they look good! They are priced very realistically, to suit this market.