Moose, a big horse who used to be our neighbour left a few months ago. At least, I thought he was big till I met this giant, Bosley, on the beach today. He’s an enormous 18 hands. His mother was a thoroughbred and his father a full Clydesdale. His rider, Jo, let me take a photo.
At this time of year the tī, aka cabbage tree, aka Cordyline, produces beautifully scented panicles. It’s the most gorgeous perfume.
Photo: Waikawa Beach, Horowhenua, Aotearoa New Zealand, at 0945 local time (UTC+13).
I think Netflix ☛ Away was a remarkable series. While no-one has actually travelled to Mars yet, it felt totally realistic. By the last few episodes it was more like watching an actual mission. So glad this focussed on people rather than gadgets. Excellent!
Thanks @macgenie for the thoughtful discussion on Voyager Revisited | Neelix Has Had It With Your Condescending Attitude (Episode 18).
Was just pondering his role as Voyager morale officer today while watching the complicated personal dynamics in Netflix ☛ Away.
Kate Mulgrew’s Captain Janeway to appear in Star Trek cartoon: 👍
Kate Mulgrew is joining a new Nickelodeon series called Star Trek: Prodigy where she’ll reprise her Star Trek: Voyager role as Captain Kathryn Janeway. The new show will be CG-animated
// @macgenie 🖖🏼
Put together Deb’s new bookshelves. Easy! Carefully followed the more complex instructions for the kitset desk. Just near the end wondered why there were 2 pre-drilled screw holes missing. And why there are two extra holes on the front… Warning: some disassembly required. 😣
I’d never heard of autoethnography before, @martinfeld. An interesting episode. Good to hear too of your long history with the German Language. I think my interest was sparked when I was ~7 when my older sister, on a school trip from England, sent me a postcard from Germany.
Every Monday I receive an email reminding me to fill out a survey for Flutracking.net | Tracking Influenza Across Australia and New Zealand. It takes a few seconds to respond. It’s interesting to see seasonal flu is almost absent in Aotearoa in 2020 (thanks to Covid measures). 🦠
The General Election in Aotearoa New Zealand is on, with voting closing in a few days time. If you happen to want to know more about our Mixed Member Proportional representation system this is a good explainer: Election 2020: Our MMP voting system explained.
I’m starting to investigate a possible trip sometime to Rēkohu / Chatham Islands, a part of Aotearoa New Zealand that’s a 2-hour plane flight east of the mainland. It’s quickly become very confusing; each site shows tours that cost more (if the price is even there) than the last.
Gave the quail a bit of a treat today: fresh straw and macrocarpa ‘roofing’. That white plastic tray was the best $2 I ever spent at a school fair.
The book Open Season: Book One of the critically-acclaimed Seasons Mystery Series by Maryann Miller was an odd read that left me feeling uncomfortable. I won’t be reading more of this series. Maybe the 2014 publication date excuses its lack of awareness about white privilege. 📚
Dallas police detective Sarah Kingsly is still reeling from community protests over her accidental shooting of a 14-year-old African-American boy … Meanwhile, in a PR move, her superiors team her with a new, African-American partner, Angel Johnson. Both women must overcome their mistrust of each other and thorny racial conflicts as they try to solve a series of mall murders.
Hardy whitebaiters
When 15 August and the start of the whitebaiting season rolls around it is still winter. Frosty mornings aren't unusual and the river water will be cold. That doesn't deter the keenest whitebaiters though who appear at first light the moment the season opens.
They drive down to the Waikawa Beach river mouth and set up 'camp' in their cars and vans, or on their quad bikes, and position nets at their chosen spot in the water's flow.
Many of the whitebaiters are locals, but others arrive from elsewhere, nets adorning car roofs like alien tracking devices.
Waders, of course, are required, but parkas and wooly hats help fend off the chill. Even icy sou'west winds don't deter the staunchest. They are, after all, keen for a feed, or perhaps just a few hours fishing.
Many of them 'clump up', chatting as the tide washes through the nets, maybe tossing out bits of bread to keep the gulls away from their catch. Others though are loners, working their spot in splendid isolation.
And why not? On a calm and sunny day there's clean sea air to enjoy, the water washing by, the peace and quiet of the shore, the distant horizon.
Sometimes the fishers arrange driftwood into shelters, or seats. Other times they bring their own camp chairs or sit in their vehicle where they may also brew up a warming cuppa.
As the season wears on, all the way to 30 November, the numbers of whitebaiters fall off, though the hard core keep going all the way to the end.
No-one ever seems to admit to having had a great catch — maybe just enough for a good feed for the family
. And debates continue between those who say whitebait are threatened and those who deny any problem.
Whitebait are the juveniles of five species of fish: giant kōkopu, banded kōkopu, shortjaw kōkopu, inanga, and kōaro, and are part of a group called galaxiids. They need good clean water in the rivers and streams to thrive, and adult whitebait need dense bankside vegetation for spawning. Those are good incentives for sorting out the many degraded waterways in this area.
Published in Ōtaki Today, September 2020, Page 16.
Daybreak cows in the frost.
Hey @help A bug report from Micro.Blog 2.0 on Mac: the New Post window ends up behind the main window after switching apps with Command Tab.
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New Post
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Switch to [app] to copy text
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Command Tab to continue writing New Post. Post window is annoyingly behind the main window.
Sex toys are one thing between consenting adults, but Internet-connected sex toys sound like a Very Bad Idea™ indeed!
This smart vibrator can be ‘easily’ hacked and remotely controlled by anyone
Security flaw left ‘smart’ chastity sex toy users at risk of permanent lock-in
Not quite the first strawberries of the season, but close. Yumm. Grown in the tunnelhouse.
Today’s highlight of the trip to the beach for a dog walk: a duck crossing the road followed by 8 or 10 tiny tiny ducklings. No photo — they were too far for my iPhone and I didn’t want to risk scaring them by moving.
OK, this looks like it should be a fun watch: The 355 - Official Trailer 🎬:
When a top-secret weapon falls into mercenary hands [4 female agents from various countries] … rocket around the globe … [and] forge a tenuous loyalty that could protect the world—or get them killed.
