Thursday was Napier day. Jillian and I set off in low cloud, rain and chill, and bizarrely, it was like that all day, despite Napier’s famed climate. We drove out through Manawatu gorge again, more spectacular since the heavy rain, and through Woodville, Stopped briefly at The Monastery to see the wine side of things, then on to Napier for an early lunch. Napier was destroyed by a huge earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt in the Art Deco style, and is lovely when the sun shines, Jillian says! Despite the weather, we had a good time, and managed dry breaks to go up to the Bluff Lookout and up to Te Mata Peak, which makes Mount Victoria’s roads look flat.

I was gutted to find I’d slept through a small earthquake in the early hours of Sunday – Jillian and Gordon woke to experience it. Humph!!

Writing and reporting for live news websites

As time goes on I have started to view working in journalism as comprising of three distinct phases the first the ‘roving reporter’ stage which is probably what the vast majority of people conjure up in their minds when someone says they are a journalist. This part takes the longest and involves chasing interviewees and getting your hands on press releases. It is worth note that since the introduction of the internet it has become much easier to replace roving with browsing however. The second is the ‘production line’ stage which is when all the work the reporter has done comes together to become part of a product processed and finally produced by the churning machine that is the office workplace.. The last part is the ‘relax and feel proud’ stage. This final stage lasts about 5 minutes and is mostly taken up by exhaling and the relaxing of the reporters’ shoulders which have been hovering just below their ears.
All joking aside however after producing work for and working as part of a team on the live rolling news days, that are part of the multimedia reporting 2 course, my original idea of what it would be like to work as a reporter for a news website has become much clearer to me as we have used the class to develop our journalistic working skills, such as good writing and interview practice, and the three step process idea that I have developed has shown me what would be expected of me. Developing stories from an initial idea seems to be ruled principally by luck which can please and infuriate you in equal measure. When we first told we had to have a few stories ready for each week I set about and managed to have quite a good measure of success with an initial story and then a follow up. Things fell nicely into place almost by themselves. I was to become aware how initially lucky I had been in the weeks that followed when attempting to produce my next stories. With a list of four or five ideas I set about working the same way as I had on my previous stories and after phoning and e-mailing around for a whole afternoon I was left sitting with absolutely nothing other than the basic information I had originally drawn my ideas from. I ended up phoning around friends and came into class with what I felt was quite a very weak piece. What can I draw from this? Well, without getting to deeply into aphorisms, I have come to the conclusion that things either go your way or they do not and that is something, that as a journalist, comes with the territory. It is up to you to decide when to stop hunting one story and when to proceed to the next. Also a well stocked contacts book can be a life saver.
Doing the job of a reporter it is also noteworthy that as time passes the number people involved in your job increases. We write and work in expanding pyramids of information and people. A journalist begins solitarily gathering ideas and as time passes so the number of people expands to first including interviewees and any other contacts in the gathering stage until you are brought to the office where you are in a room filled with other journalists and the editor all working cumulatively to release the end product whether that is a website or a newspaper. The office stage is interesting as it is not unlike a factory where everyone works, talks and jokes while under constant the scrutiny of the boss; the editor, whose main job seems to be marching round treading the thin line between being helpful and autocratic, a problem I never had to experience as I did not play this role. There is a healthy sense of competition in the office environment that I found useful and enjoyable. No one wants to present the weakest material and no one wants to be the last to finish writing up their story. However working in such a rapid way can have consequences to the product as I found out when the editor, the course leader and I all failed to notice the title of my article was misspelt and it was posted on the site. Although having an article about an ‘airpot’ is amusing in class this could result in a great deal of trouble in a real workplace. I have thought to myself that this office environment must be missed by writers of any other kind as it brings you into close and friendly contact with a group of people doing the same job as you and experiencing and dealing with the same problems which results in a sort of ‘production line’ humour and friendliness. It also usually leads to the obligatory after-work pint.

I found this while cleaning out my harddrive. It was written before the name change went ahead, but i feel it deserves to be here because it’s one instance of my writing that i actually like.

It’s a topic hotter than a McDonald’s apple pie (with the appropriately worded warning label of course). The credit crunch has swallowed the market of one country after another as we hurtle towards global recession and yet the Enlightened Ones of Napier University are still ploughing ahead with the process of rearranging words on their letterhead. Napier University is to become Edinburgh Napier University at the reported cost of £500, 000; at a time where financial prudence would be infinitely more appropriate.

Any student who opposes this measure may as well be rearrange deckchairs on the Titanic; but while they must be relieved that the cost is now nowhere near the initially quoted figure of £2 million, the student body is forced to stand back and watch money being needlessly spent on a vanity instead of on tools for learning.

The more cynical students see it as an attempt to fool foreign students into thinking we have amalgamated with our (supposedly) more prestigious rival – Edinburgh University. Anne-Sophie Hoffmoen, a Napier student has opposed to the move since it was first put on the table last year. “I think it’s a bad idea. I think the university is trying to trick people in to thinking we’re Edinburgh, especially foreign students.

It just seems so unnecessarily expensive. I’ve got to think that surely there must be something more worthwhile we could spend the money on”

The university is considered to be the best modern university in Scotland. It takes its

name from the inventor of logarithms, John Napier, who was born on the site of the main campus at Merchiston. The name might not mean a lot to most people but it certainly means a lot to the students of Napier University. When the change first came to light Aran Simm was president of the NSA. At the time, he fielded hundreds of emails from disgruntled students.  “We’ve never had so many responses to anything like this. The overwhelming message we got from the students is that it’s got to be Napier, people want Napier, people signed up for Napier, it’s a show of pride in the university that we attend.”

In the week between the name change being revealed to the students and the proposition going forward to the Privy Council, the lack consultation time has angered many students, the NSA received nearly 200 emails from students expressing their concerns.

One of those who made his views known was Michael Behr: “I don’t see the point of it. I understand it’s aimed at bringing in more international students but if you don’t know what city you’ll be studying in, I don’t think you are smart enough for University education.

The amount they are spending is too much – even half of that would have been too much.”

The staff, however, see things differently. Rachel Dungar is head of the journalism programme and is all in favour of rebranding the university: “I think it is a good move because [John] Napier is an insider, no one outside of Edinburgh knows who he is. Edinburgh in itself is a brand which is recognised around the world and will help us attract more foreign students.

It’s also normal around the world for universities to have their location as part of their name. At the moment Napier has a unfounded reputation for letting anyone in regardless of their grades but the university is changing – upping its game and a name change is an integral part of this process. I have to admit I also find the new name sexy.”

Christine Tierney, who is in charge of marketing and communication at Napier, agrees that Edinburgh needed to be included in the university’s new name: “98% of students in Newcastle and Belfast did not know we were in Edinburgh that’s why we need to include Edinburgh in the name.”

However, when she was asked outright, even she was unable to justify such excessive spending in a period of global economic recession. A global recession could mean fewer people choosing to leave their home countries and travelling to Scotland to study. As their tuition fees make up a large part of Napier’s current £90 million annual turnover a drop in international students would mean a drop in turnover.

Ms Tierney also dismissed the claim that Napier were attempting to ride on the coat tails of Edinburgh, saying that the feedback from Edinburgh University itself was positive.

But no matter how much the students dislike the new name and the unnecessary cost involved, it would seem Heraclitus was right when he said: “Nothing endures but change”.

Trad jazz from 1pm with a good Sunday roast for £5.50 from 2 – 4pm. Only at the Lord Napier.

By Michael MacLeod

A DOCTOR and his wife have been fined £5,000 for what a Sheriff described as “the most outrageous breach of the peace I have ever experienced” in his 20-year career.

Dr John McCallum and his wife Michele “ambushed” their neighbour Roslyn Kinder after hearing that she had tried to run over their kids in her SUV.

The Edinburgh doctor – who earns £100,000 a year – blocked Mrs Kinder from parking her car while his wife hounded her for an explanation.

But when CCTV of the incident was shown during a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Sheriff Graeme Warner was left in no doubt.

He told the couple today (Friday): “In more than 20 years of being a Sheriff, I thought it was positively chilling to see on the CCTV.

“Had I been Mrs Kinder, I would have been scared out of my wits.”

The argument – in the middle of one of the capital’s poshest residential streets – left neighbours divided over who was in the wrong.

Even crime writer Ian Rankin – a neighbour of the warring Napier Road families – was cited as a witness, but ultimately did not have to give evidence.

Mrs Kinder, 48, said she was forced to “run the gauntlet” every time she drove her 4×4 out of her house because the McCallums – both aged 49 – “love to taunt” her.

And her five year-old son, who was with her in the car, was left so terrified that he had nightmares of the McCallums and had to see a psychologist.

After leaving her home to pick up her son in September last year, Mrs Kinder returned to find Dr McCallum standing in front of the electric gates to her home.

She said: “I knew Dr McCallum was waiting for me.

“It was very sinister and rather odd as he was staring at me in a threatening way.

“As I started to reverse towards my drive, he stood behind my car and wouldn’t let me past.

“He was staring fiercely and I was scared so I sounded the horn countless times.”

The couple had been told by their three children that Mrs Kinder had tried to run them down earlier that day.

But CCTV footage from her home shown in court proved otherwise.

She added: “Then Michele McCallum came out from her house looking absolutely fierce and started banging on the car screaming, “you tried to run over my children.”

“Then she got into her own car and started sounding her horn and imitating my distress, while laughing and waving to her own children. There was a sense of euphoria about them all.

“Her eyes were red and I thought she was going to assault me, while my son was sitting there terrified. He has suffered serious nightmares since this and we had to take him to a child psychologist.”

“It was causing massive uproar”

Dr McCallum said he “could only do what any parent would do” by phoning police after his kids told him Mrs Kinder drove her car at them.

But Mrs Kinder insisted she had done nothing wrong.

She said: “Police questioned me then viewed the CCTV from our house and were satisfied I had done nothing wrong.

“But the McCallums were loving it, behaving like wild animals, ambushing me.

“I do not know why they behave like this.”

Defence agent David Blair Wilson said: “Mrs McCallum was perfectly entitled to try and get an explanation from Mrs Kinder.

“When Mrs Kinder shut the car door, Mrs McCallum was entitled to open the door to speak to her.

“It does not amount to breach of the peace.”

Sheriff Warner found the pair guilty of breach of the peace and fined them £2,500 each.

He said: “Fortunately we had it all recorded for us to see in court.

“I very much regret to inform you that I found you both largely incredible witnesses.

“The conduct could not possibly have more clearly constituted a breach of the peace.

“Many of the neighbours came out into the street and it was causing massive uproar.

“You should be profoundly ashamed of yourselves and I find you both guilty of the charges against you.”

The couple refused to comment outside court.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

By Kenny Simpson

Fountain Park is ‘thriving’ after opening ten years ago due to offering credit crunch suffering Edinburgers’ an alternate to costly nights out, according to a business guru.

The leisure park has become one of Edinburgh’s most popular hotspots with an average daily attendance figure of 10,000 people.

Fountain Park being constructed in 1998

Napier business guru Robert Wilkinson said, “While it is always great to see businesses doing well during the recession, we are talking about large organisations here. There are still many small companies going out of business every day in Britain. Fountain Park has the luxury of providing people with a cheap alternate to going on a big night out and that is why it continues to thrive in these hard times.”

While the majority of the businesses are now settled and successfully beating the recession, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing as long-serving cinema employee Alan Stevens, 28, remembers.

Fountain Park as it looks today (Picture courtesy of www.fountainparkcentre.co.uk)

He said, “I have been here since the cinema was owned by Virgin and have seen many businesses come and go in that time. There used to be a huge nightclub on the corner we’d all go to and an Italian restaurant that closed after a few months. As much as I miss that club, it’s cool that Circus opened a casino and Nandos have a restaurant now.”

The retail complex currently boasts a 13 screen cinema, bowling, casino, gym, bingo, pubs and restaurants.

Cineworld Cinemas Operations Manager, Mark Smith said, “The cinema has gone from strength to strength over the last couple of years and we have achieved an excellent financial profit in our review of this year. In fact this is Cineworld Edinburgh’s first year ever that we have managed over a million admits.”

The popularity of Fountain Park and in particular the Cineworld cinema has led to hosting the prestigious Edinburgh International Film Festival which attracts people from all over the world into the capital. The crowning glory of Fountain Park’s history came two years ago when film stars Keira Knightly and Sienna Miller walked down the red carpet for the world premier of ‘The Edge of Love’

Nowadays a lot of professional journalists are afraid to lose their jobs because of the credit crunch and also because of the internet. While I think the first is a real problem (as publishers, broadcasters have to cut their budget to survive), I do not consider the latter one a threat to the industry.

Csaba Balogh, a Hungarian journalist and blogger told me in an interview: ‘it is exactly the internet why newspapers have a future’. According to him, journalists have nothing else to do, but convert their knowledge and professional skills and start writing on-line as newspapers are ‘dying’. This, of course does not necessarily mean that professional journalists are not needed either – although there is an increasing number of citizen journalists – as they bring their professionalism and investigative initiative to this quick-changing industry. They just have to learn to write in a different style and for a different readership.

These changes might be difficult but they also open up new opportunities: journalists can add links, video, sound material and even more pictures to their articles which make them interesting and unique.

I agree with this approach and as a journalism student I am happy to see that Universities have understood these changes well and adapt to them perfectly. E.g.: in the summer I got a phone call from my University (Edinburgh Napier) and they did a little phone-interview with me and at the end they told me that the course does not simply concentrate on newspapers, TV and radio any more, but largely on the internet and blogging, offering us a multimedia-education. And honestly, what would we do without it, these days?

As you may or may not know, I started my journalism studies this year. We had to write four articles which have been assessed (and several essays as well), and as I have never in my life done anything similar to this, it was quite an experience.

The first one was an interview made in Princes Street Gardens so I grabbed my notebook and my pen and went for my ‘person hunt’. We had to find two persons, elderly or tourists. I decided that the best would be to find an elderly tourist And so I did. The first few people I asked said that they were not interested, they did not want to buy anything. Even the elderly people were not kind and this was a shock for me. Grandma and grandpa are kind… You know what I mean.

After walking my legs off, I finally found a gorgeous couple from Germany. The interview was exciting as I had no idea what to ask from them. Imagine: I had to write an article about a person’s life story… And I am not so good in preparing in advance, in fact, I do not believe you can prepare in advance for an interview if you do not know who the interviewee will be. Anyway, I knew what I wanted to know I just did not have enough experience (especially in English), to ask the proper questions. After a while I got the angle of the story and I was unstoppable. You can check the result here: http://viqe.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/43-year-old-love-story/ .

The second piece was an easier one for me: a profile of a journalist. I felt very lucky as I happen to know a Hungarian journalist (we went to the same University and had classes together), so I could do the interview in Hungarian and did not even have to struggle too much with the questions. We have known each other for three years now and I knew a lot of things about him. Thus, I could prepare my questions in advance as I almost knew his answers as well. This happened to be an hour-long interview which I really enjoyed translating into English. I would love to do this all my life. It was also very comfortable as I did the interview through Skype and I could look into my lecture notes to check if I’m doing my thing right. The outcome: http://viqe.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/a-true-story-of-success-–-csaba-balogh/ .

Our third article was a Parliament report. This was the hardest as I had to cope with the different accents of Mps and also with words I have never heard before. I did not know the politicians either, so I tried to guess their names from the vowels I heard. I was not sure if I could manage but I could even get some quotes. You can check my understanding of Scottish Parliament debate here: http://viqe.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/relief-from-aberdeen-to-inverness/ .

Our final task was a feature for BMI In-flight Magazine. We were asked to write something in connection with Edinburgh or Glasgow. As I work in a hotel restaurant this was not really difficult; I meet tourists every single day, I talk to them, I know why they choose certain restaurants, destinations so I decided to write about something in connection with restaurants. I called the head-chef of the four-star hotel, and we had a chat which I recorded. The result was a 1000-word article about the comfort of hotel restaurants: http://viqe.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/eating-in-out/ .

In the future I would like to make a few changes: I would like to be more prepared as luck will not always accompany me throughout my academic studies. I will also have to get used to the different accents here and this might improve by listening to the radio or going to council meetings…and if I read more newspaper my vocabulary will improve and I will also get to know how certain articles look like, what makes them interesting and what readers want.

Trimester One is drawing to a close…unbelieveably, almost all of our coursework assessments have been handed in and it really does feel like an end to our introduction to the art of  journalism.

So what have I learned? I feel that the last few months have been a time of great development for me personally as I know they have for many.  My writing has been both criticised and acclaimed, showing me exactly where I need to improve and crucially how to go about it.  My university work has encouraged me to get out there and actively seek news stories and sources, acquiring the “journalist’s eye” – which becomes a constant way of viewing the world.

My work with The Journal, being read by an audience of 80,000 every fortnight, has given me confidence and raised my self-esteem.  This allows me to persue more actively leads and chase up responses for quotes and real, first-hand information.

Throughout the year we have met many significant journalists and writers, including David Pratt and Eamonn O’Neill, who have enforced my love for the industry I am entering.  Their talks instilled the value of real, quality news and the need to just get out there and do it, a mantra I shall be taking forward.

So at the end of our time in these modules, I am convinced that the path ahead is a little less daunting.  My writing has started to change direction, becoming more journalistic and focussed, my confidence has grown and I am more assured that I can just get out there and chase the news.  In these brief four months I really feel I have become immersed in my chosen profession.

To all we have learned and all that lies ahead. Thanks be to the teacher.

As part of my Journalism course at Edinburgh Napier university, we were given the task of writing a portfolio of work over the first trimester. One of the four pieces which we had to write was a feature article which would be suitable for publishing in the BMI Voyager flight magazine. Here is that article, which I did on sport in Edinburgh as well as the side bar which would accompany the piece.

BMI Feature

Edinburgh is widely known for its rich culture and history rather than its sport, but don’t let that fool you – Scotland’s capital is as obsessed with it as much as the rest of the country. But while Glasgow is considered Scotland’s home of football, Edinburgh could equally be known as the home of rugby.

A trip to and tour of the magnificent Murrayfield stadium, is an essential activity for any rugby fan visiting Edinburgh. Treating you to an exploration into the history of Murrayfield and Scottish Rugby, the tour lasts approximately an hour and a half and also shows off the state-of-the-art facilities which Murrayfield accommodates. A mere £6.00 for adults and £3.50 for concessions, a tour of the ground is a bargain day out and enlightens customers to the history of Murrayfield and Scottish rugby union. In conjunction with the Taylor report, which stated that stadiums of a certain size must be all-seated, Murrayfield was rebuilt in 1994 reducing the capacity to 67,130 although it remains the biggest in Scotland. It is currently home of Edinburgh Rugby, Edinburgh Sevens and, of course, the Scottish national team.

Having been built in the early 1920s as an alternative to the grounds at Inverleith and Raeburn Place, Murrayfield hosted its first match on the 21^st of March 1925, when Scotland defeated England, and has remained the home of Scotland’s rugby union side ever since. Seeing as the ground wasn’t built until the 1920s, Murrayfield missed out on the beginnings of international rugby, which also had its roots in Edinburgh.  Raeburn Place in Edinburgh played host to the first ever game of international rugby when Scotland took on England on the 27^th of March 1871. Scotland’s international games continued to be played at Raeburn Place or Inverleith until a variety of reasons persuaded the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) into buying land in order to build Murrayfield. In fact, one of the main reasons that the SRU decided this was because of the troublesome nature of some local schoolchildren. If you were a pupil at the local school in Raeburn Place then you were given a special card that granted you free access to the games. However, due to the open-air nature of the ground, once inside the schoolchildren would then proceed to hand the card to all their friends so they would get in for free as well. This was costing the SRU a lot of money and they therefore decided to jump ship to the more secure site at Murrayfield.

As is the case with many other sports, Scotland is considered one of the oldest and proudest nations in rugby union history. They were one of the founder nations of the International Rugby Board (IRB), at that time the International Rugby Football Board, in 1886 along with Ireland and Wales. Since the first tournament in 1883, Scotland has also competed in every Home nations, Five Nations and, in recent times Six Nations, and have been outright winners of it 14 times, making them the fourth most successful side in the tournaments history. Yet, in spite of their rich history in the sport, Scotland has yet to win the Rugby World Cup since its introduction in 1987.

The club rugby scene is also a popular one in Edinburgh and many teams are based in the city. Edinburgh Rugby is the only professional side currently playing in Edinburgh and they compete in the Celtic League, one of the three major rugby union leagues in Europe. Edinburgh is also home to the second oldest rugby club in the world – Edinburgh Academicals. Interestingly, the club does not have the word rugby in their name; rather they are called Edinburgh Academical Football Club as their formation in 1857 preceded the breakaway of rugby from the Football Association in 1863.

Today, rugby is as popular as it ever was in Edinburgh, with Murrayfield regularly sold out for an international game. With the Autumn Tests quickly approaching, Edinburgh’s passion for rugby is sure to increase as fans flock to the capital city to roar on their nation.  

Sidebar

Edinburgh, though, is not an all rugby city as it also plays host to a diversity of sports. Football is one of the most popular sports in the city and there is an intense rivalry shared between the two main sides Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian. There are also many other semi-pro and amateur teams based in and around Edinburgh. Many other sports are participated in the capital city, which represent the wide range of interests and cultures present in modern day Edinburgh. For fans of American sports, supporters can follow the fortunes of Edinburgh Diamond Devils baseball club, the Edinburgh Capitals ice hockey team and the non-professional American football team; the Edinburgh Wolves. Cricket is also well-liked in Edinburgh with the national team playing their home matches at The Grange in north Edinburgh while there are also many cricket fields present in the Meadows public park for recreational purposes. The city has also held an annual marathon since June 2003 which runs from the city centre out towards Musselburgh in the east and often attracts some of the world’s top athletes. One of Scotland’s most treasured national sports is golf and Edinburgh provides its fair share of picturesque golf courses, with locations such as the Braid Hills, Princes and Silverknowes courses providing commanding views of the city and its surroundings.

Established by the City of Edinburgh Council in 1998, Edinburgh Leisure is responsible for running Edinburgh’s many sport and leisure services and is always looking out for ways of improving those facilities and building new ones. Edinburgh leisure provides facilities for a wide variety of sporting activities and also offers coaching services for kids in order to get them involved in sport from an early age and live a healthy lifestyle.

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 23 /PRNewswire/ — For foodies, New Zealand is a veritable playground, renowned for its award-winning wines and farm-fresh cuisine.

On March 30, from New Zealand to Australia, luxury specialist Crystal Cruises is showcasing the epicurean appeal of the region on a 12-day Wine & Food Experiences of Discovery cruise. Master Sommeliers Robert Bath and Cameron Douglas – the first and only Master Sommelier from New Zealand – will guide guests through the nuances and pairings of New Zealand’s finest vintages, while optional Crystal Adventures take guests to celebrated Cloudy Bay Vineyards, Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough. Sailing to Sydney, leading Australian chef and innovator Serge Dansereau will share regional specialties via cooking demonstrations, tastings and special menus, while top Australian food purveyor Simon Johnson will host tastings of artisanal cheeses and gourmet chocolate.

Read the rest of the story here.

There is so much being written about the preparation of docile test match wickets that make the contest between bat and ball lopsided. It is annoying to read so many reports about this topic in the last few days. Tendulkar’s 20 years and the future of test cricket seem to be the hot topics of coverage everywhere. We shall intentionally stay away from all that hoopla and write about something that is becoming a global syndrome and not something that is specific to Indian wickets.

In the last five years, Lord’s, the home of cricket, has been no exception to tame draws. Since 2005, only two test matches played at Lord’s have produced results. England defeated West Indies in May 2009 and they defeated Australia in the Ashes earlier this year. Counting out the match against West Indies, that makes it 6 draws and a solitary victory.

Earlier this year, when India toured New Zealand, the test match at Napier petered out to a dull draw where India batted close to five sessions to see the match off. Only two out of 8 test matches played at this venue since 1979 have produced results.

The test matches played at Lahore’s Gadaffi stadium in the last two years have been high scoring draws. We need not remind you of the kind of surfaces England got in West Indies earlier this year when they failed to win a single test match after going down to Jerome Taylor in Jamaica.

In his column in the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Roebuck doesn’t hide his disappointment about the slowing SCG surface:

With every passing year, the tracks seem to be slowing down. Take the mottled surfaces seen at the SCG this season. A more docile bunch of decks it’d be hard to imagine. Admittedly, the new ball had a bit of carry but it did not last long. Doug Bollinger had plenty of gas but before long was obliged to bowl stump to stump. Already Stuart Clark had adopted the same strategy. These blokes are top-class operators.

As we can see, the problem with batsmen-friendly pitches is becoming a global syndrome and is not specific to  the wickets of any nation as such. What is more worrying is Mr. Daljit Singh’s retort to the criticism about the Ahmedabad pitch. He says that the curator’s act was justified as they did not want India to go down in a session like they did in the game against South Africa two years ago. India  are better off preparing dust bowls and earning international censure as opposed to preparing such lifeless wickets where there is no turn even on the fifth day.

If there is any consolation, it is just that the wickets in South Africa continue to be sporting and produce results almost everytime. Maybe the curators there have a thing or two to teach their Indian counterparts.

]]> http://madmadmadmadworld.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/wellington-to-lake-taupo/ Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:37:00 +0000 JC http://madmadmadmadworld.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/wellington-to-lake-taupo/

Wellington

The weather picked up enough to go for plan A. We got the train into Wellington as we didn’t know what it would be like parking in the city. Needn’t have worried – just like every where else i.e. no people – but it was a nice change to go on public transport. The city itself is all on flat land around the bay and the suburbs as such go up the hills. There is a great cable car railway which goes up the main hill behind the city to the top entrance of the botanical gardens and from there it is a 30 – 40 min walk back down to the city plus time to stop and smell the roses etc. The weather had improved enough for us to have lunch outside at a cafe alongside a lovely rose garden.

From there we carried on down to the Te Papa museum which is the national museum for NZ and very impressive. It covers from how NZ was first formed geographically and has changed over the years plus history around Maori culture. I enjoyed some of the more modern bits i.e the last 150 years since the European settlers started coming. (Not in the museum but there has been quite a bit in the news over here about the kids the UK “transported” as orphans even as late as the 1960’s) It is also the Te Papa that has the giant squid that was captured in the Antarctic – some 4.7 m long. Need a lot of olive oil and harissa to cook that little beauty!

The whole dock area around leading down to the Te Papa has been regenerated into bars and restaurants so in the summer I should think it would be a good place to eat and chill but on a quite chilly late spring evening it was VERY quiet- even by NZ standards – so lacked any real atmosphere . Still plenty of Japanese though taking photos of their food! Did I tell you I saw one taking a photo of the menu – then a photo of the plate of food when it was served before he started eating it! Barking but they have made us laugh.

Off to Napier tomorrow. The campsite wi-fi is knackered so better luck tomorrow!

Napier

Napier is basically at the heart of Hawkes Bay so it is an ideal centre for following the wine trail etc and if you like art deco then Napier is the place for you. They had a very big earthquake in 1931 so much of the town was rebuilt in the 1930s and follows the art deco theme. I think the town is mostly closed on Mondays – enough said,

The road from Napier to Lake Taupo is another stunning drive , up and through the mountains and close to some very impressive waterfalls. Having said that I think it would have been better to have a long days drive and do Wellington to Taupo in one hit up highway 1.

Lake Taupo

A “little” like Lake Wanaka, with quite a lively shoreside town overlooking the lake to snow covered peaks (2800 m) in the distance and the usual array of scenic flights, jetboats, bungy jumping etc. We can’t afford another scenic flight over mountains and Liz says she is never getting in a jet boat again so we will have to see what to get up to tomorrow. Lake Taupo is biggest NZ lake and forms part of the geo-thermal region that encompasses Rotorura.

This afternoon we went up to a place called The Craters of the Moon which is a very barren landscape of geysers and bubbling mud holes etc . Unfortunately none of the geysers were erupting but a very interesting place to visit, if a little smelly.

We are wondering now about Rotorura but we did notice one of the campsites advertised, “No sulphur smells“. Now there is a positive slogan!

By Kenny Simpson

For the third and final time this year, the superstitious among us have to survive the unluckiest day of the year. Today is… Friday the 13th!

Death's hand (picture credit: Margon Swifty@flickr.com)

The number 13 is widely accepted as a very unlucky number and Friday as an unlucky day, so it is little wonder why so many of us fear leaving the house on this date.

Ranging from tiny unexplainable happenings to being killed in all sorts of horrific ways, minds seem to run wild with speculation of what could happen on any Friday that lands on the 13th of a month.

But is there really any reason to fear for your life or is it just a case of superstitious minds? That, it seems, depends on who you speak to.

Kirsty Anderson, 22, Edinburgh, is one person who has had an unlucky morning; “I think Friday the 13th definitely brings bad luck. I woke up this morning and found my computer wasn’t working and wouldn’t even switch on. It’s a bad start to a day that’s only going to get worse.”

Some would say unexplainable; others that it was just a computer malfunction that was always going to happen. The majority of people shrug off  Friday the 13th as just another day and feel that what happens is down to them and not superstitions. 

Tom, an employee of Starbucks Edinburgh, said: ”I’ve not burnt myself making coffees this morning and that’s down to me being careful and not silly superstitions. If I end up hurting myself today then it will be from a stupid mistake rather than the fact it’s Friday the 13th. I don’t believe in any of this superstition or destiny stuff.”

Photoshopped for Friday 13th but could it happen to you? (picture credit: freakingnews.com)

Ironically any Friday that falls on the 13th is often a lot safer than other Fridays because people are generally more wary of being cautious and some refuse to even leave their homes.

Insurance companies have even found that on average Friday the 13th has around 150 less claims than other Fridays during the year.

However all this cautiousness must have an affect somewhere and it is usually the world of retail who lose millions of pounds of sales because of peoples’ insecurities.

Janet Grainger who works for Dobbies Garden World said: “For the last few years we have noticed a considerable drop in transactions on Friday the 13ths. We have put this down to members of the public being less willing to travel out to the site because of worries about accidents.”

So on this Friday the 13th will you give in to superstitions or chance your luck that you’ll survive to deal with the next one?

Christmas is a time of anticipation and excitement for me. A family time, mixed with summer days and holidays. Each Christmas is reflective of the events of the past year. Two years ago I was not in the mood for Christmas at all, so we took off for a long weekend to recharge and came back with thoughts of a different lifestyle.

Are you of an age where you can’t believe it is Christmas time again? Not so long ago, the festive season seemed to arrive far too quickly, the ‘wind up’ month of December was about to begin.

Before Christmas We Go To Napier

We decided a long weekend exploring somewhere new was needed. Napier, a town in Hawkes Bay, on the East Coast of the North Island, called the art deco capital of the world was a place I had always wanted to go. We found a very pleasant bed and breakfast on Napier Hill and experienced the ease of living in a small city and the absolute beauty of the region.

Vineyards and orchards, rivers and mountains, the ocean and golf courses as well as the famous art deco architecture were just the beginning of a long list of attributes we found.

Moving Out Of The City Becomes My Mission

‘I’m going to live here’ were my parting words to our bed and breakfast hosts. Since then I have repeated that sentence to everyone – family, friends and strangers – and now it is a fact. In two months we are moving out of the city and going to Hawkes Bay

This Christmas will be the last in our city home of fifteen years. It will be an end of an era for our family, a Christmas which, on reflection, we will remember because of our decision to move out of the city. But I am anticipating it will be warm and sunny, there will plenty of great food and more importantly, there will be twenty or so family members all together  for one day enjoying each others company. Perhaps one day our family Christmas will be in Napier.

I learned very early on in my career as the Sports editor at the Langley Times to never attend a game without taking along my own camera. While such talented photographers as John Gordon, Rob Newell and Ted Colley graced my pages with their artwork — saving me a thousand words each time — they also had other assignments and priorities. If the hospital was on fire, there was a very good chance I was on my own at the Grade 8 girls soccer match.

I’ve continued taking photos even as my journalism career has stalled. In fact, over the past year, I’ve sold more photos than stories (the 2009-2010 issue of Napier Life features seven of my photos — not that I’m bragging. Or anything).

I’ve made a habit of taking my camera whenever we attend various events around Hawke’s Bay in an effort to add to my collection and challenge myself to improve.

That was the case again Friday when Viking Woman and I drove to the nearby community of Port Ahuriri for its primary school’s Food and Wine Festival. The fundraiser included a cake-baking competition (the topics were Earth or The Planets); pony rides; musical entertainment; a barricaded area where, for a nominal fee, you could take a hammer to a wrecked car for several uninterrupted minutes of pure fury; and food stalls run not by Mom and Dad but by actual restaurants.

Ahuriri is blessed with one of the few sand beaches in Hawke’s Bay and is slowly luring tourists away from downtown Napier with its own Art Deco charm and a tasty collection of cafes, eateries and bars. The folk there tend to be a little more laid-back and that easy-going attitude was on display during the Festival.

We admired the imaginative cake decorating, listened to the bagpipes (for as long as we could), ate sushi and did our small bit to help Port Ahuriri School meet its budget.

I kept my trusty Nikon close to hand, looking for that interesting shot — the baby sampling its dad’s beer; the little drummer girl who also sang and played the ukulele; the toddler who ditched the boring hotdog bun and went straight for the good stuff.

I’ve included some of those photos here, cropped and sharpened for best effect. Enjoy. Comments always appreciated. (And, yeah  know, the design of my blog page is not exactly conducive for photo layouts. That should be rectified soon.)

The annual Arts in the Park Haumoana Market Day is a circled event on the Hawke’s Bay calendar of local activities. A major fundraiser for Haumoana School, it’s held the first Sunday in November at Memorial Park and tends to attract crowds in the thousands.

We missed it our first year here because I was, ahem, lying on a beach in Bora Bora. (And, yes, travel writers are to be envied. And worshipped.)

Normally, I’m not a big fan of crowded venues, having begged off our family’s annual pilgrimage to Vancouver’s Pacific National Exhibition as soon as I was old enough to say no to my parents. But Sunday presented us with a generous serving of warm spring weather and so Viking Woman and I opted to continue our quest to experience the wonders of our new community.

In doing so, we decided to forgo our usual Sunday morning foray to the flea-cum-farmers’ market on Napier’s Marine Parade, and so I was hoping to pick up some fresh local produce in Haumoana. It was not to be. This Market Day may have featured more than 200 stalls, but it was all about goods and services and less about healthy food. Unless by food you mean corn dogs. And by corn dogs I mean deep-fried mutton sausages. Thanks, but no thanks.

There were hundreds of wares on offer, most of them of the variety Viking Woman refers to as “dust collectors.” Things like decorated boomerangs or inflatable caveman clubs or some kind of wonder mop; even a child-size grandstand so your brood can sit and cheer Dad on while you mow the lawn. I was momentarily tempted by the packaged samples of “slime” and “snot” but, in the end, realized I could probably produce the real thing at home for free.

You could bid on alcohol or artwork — and not much else — at an auction, or ride the ponies if you were, like, six. Have your face painted or receive a massage. I could have had my hair braided if I’d had enough, um, time.

Entertainment was promised, but all we saw during our two-hour stay was a group of indigenous people from South America playing their traditional bamboo flutes while dressed as North American Indians. Because nothing draws a crowd like a chief’s feathered war bonnet and the possibility, no matter how remote, of a good, old-fashioned scalpin’.

In the end, all I spent was $4 on two soft ice cream cones. Because, at least as far as I’m concerned, sunny days are all about ice cream, as opposed to ceramic skulls or fake shrunken heads. But maybe that’s just me.

Irgendwie ist das alles nicht so leicht gerade. Das Wetter spielt nämlich nicht mit. Die letzten Wochen hier waren allesamt zu kalt, und deshalb sind die ganzen Früchte noch nicht so weit, weswegen es gerade einfach nichts zu tun gibt.
Die einzige Möglichkeit ist gerade warten und immer wieder die gleichen Farmen anrufen und nachfragen.
Das Hostel hier ist voller Deutscher, wie eigentlich überall hier. Man kommt also hier im Hostel nichtmal dazu viel Englisch zu sprechen.
Wir warten also und klappern immer wieder alles mögliche ab, um dann letztlich hoffentlich doch noch was zu finden.

Solange üben wir Gitarre spielen und erkunden mehr oder weniger die Umgebung. Heute gibt’s mal wieder Pizza. Freu mich schon.

Edinburgh Napier University has opened a dedicated games lab on their existing computing campus.

The launch was led by former Napier student Brian Baglow, who worked on the Grand Theft Auto games.

Mr Baglow said: “There is a real pioneering spirit amongst Scotland’s games companies.

“The economic significance of the activity going on up here is now being more widely recognised.”

Another former student, Kenny Mitchell, was also involved with the project.

In an interview for STV he said, “It (Edinburgh Napier) has got a proven track record worldwide, with the Grand Theft Auto franchise and other studios and developments that have spread out throughout the world from talent that’s been grown here.”

Mitchell works for Disney Interactive Studios and has worked on projects including the Harry Potter games.

A central reason for the construction of the new lab is the launch of a new degree pogramme at the university. The BSc in Interactive Entertainment aims to foster a new generation of games designers.

The course will be varied and cover a wide range of topics. On the university’s website the course listing claims that students will “gain an understanding of digital media development, gameplay and playfulness, software development for games and digital narrative”.

The degree also offers the options to specialise in “computer graphics and animation, digital video and digital imaging, or computer systems and software development”.

In order to facilitate these objectives, the new lab contains a wide-screen plasma television as well as a large projection screen, networked to 24 Xbox 360s and PCs. Robotic development capabilities are also included.

Reinforcing Mr Baglow’s point on the economic significance of the industry Sally Smith, head of the School of Computing at the university, said: “Designing digital entertainment products aimed at PCs, games consoles and mobile computing devices has become a lucrative industry.”

Smith adds that this has “created a demand for skilled programmers and games designers”.

In 2008, the institution was ranked number one for graduate employment by the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

This new degree stregthens the university’s roster of industry-specific degree courses.

We spent the majority of our day at the airport and on small planes. Unfortunately we had a small snafu with the rental car from Hertz due to a botched rental agreement that was set in place back in Auckland, so we had our first bad experience in New Zealand. We aren’t letting that bother us, we hope that Hertz will prefer to fix it. Long story short: we told the guy, Rav, in Auckland’s Hertz center that we declined the rental car (ripoff) insurance because we are fully insured, yet he printed out a sheet that indicated we wanted it, so after a 12-hour flight, early morning and Rav rushing us through, we signed the sheet thinking we were declining the insurance. We spoke with the Auckland Hertz supervisor dude “Igor”, but he was a jerk and offered no solutions, he’s definitely not a Kiwi. We will be dealing with customer service in a few days and we are hoping they will fix the matter since we paid nearly twice as much as we had expected. For now, we continue this beautiful trip, because as you’ll see, there is way too much beauty here to be mad.

Napier has the smallest airport we have ever seen. The only airline in Napier is Air New Zealand, there are only a few gates and they all board from the same room, which is also shared with a cafe, check-in counter and baggage area. No security (a bit scary) and we walked out onto the tarmac to board the plane! It was all pretty cool and we felt a little bit like rockstars with a private plane. Our first flight was about an hour to Wellington, then we re-boarded the same plane to Nelson, which was only a half hour.

As we arrived in Nelson, it was about 65 degrees and sunny. Nelson is an adorable little-big city on the northeastern part of the south island. We rented a Camry just like Jess’, except it drives on the opposite side. For some reason, the Camry has wipers on the left side of the steering wheel and the Ford Mondao that we rented for a week had them on the right side of the steering wheel… its confusing! About 10 times today James went to make a turn and notified everyone by flipping on his windshield wipers! It is so difficult to retrain the brain sometimes! Ha!

Tonight we are staying at a darling little bed and breakfast called “The Blue Moon” in Riwaka. We chose this place because it is close to Abel Tasman National Park, which everyone says is a “must see”, so we are. For dinner tonight we drove about ten minutes north up to Shoreline Restaurant in Kaiteriteri which is at the beginning of Abel Tasman. Tomorrow we are spending the day in a sea shuttle and walking for a few hours in Abel Tasman.

It is really hard to believe that we have only been here for a week… and we have another week left! We really do miss you all. We are thinking of you!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day, clear skies and 68 degrees! We went on a wine tour to 4 different wineries in the Napier & Hastings area. The tour crew picked us up at our hotel so we didn’t have to worry about driving. The second winery had a sweet dog that greeted us at the cellar door (see pictures below). Awww, we sure do miss our dog Bacchus and cat, Shwa (sniffle, sniffle).

Shortly after our wine tour, we found a restaurant called Deeno’s and had some steaks, then finished our evening watching the sunset at the top of Bluff’s Peak which overlooks the ocean and Napier City.

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