An 80 year old woman was arrested for shoplifting. When she went before the judge he asked her, "What did you steal?" She replied: "A can of peaches." The judge asked her why she had stolen them and she replied that she was hungry. The judge then asked her how many peaches were in the can. She replied, "Six."The judge then said, "I will give you 6 days in jail." Before the judge could actually pronounce the punishment the woman's husband spoke up and asked the judge if he could say something. The judge said, "What is it?" The husband said "She also stole a can of peas." San Nakji for President!
It feels like the week has only just started and it is Wednesday! Yesterday was ANZAC Day, which is the Rememberance / Memorial Day for New Zealand and Australia. I have written about my feelings on this before, so I won't go through this again, but if you are interested I am sure there is a post about it around this time last year. Anyway, it was a holiday which is good. That means we have had three weeks of only four working days. Wonderful. However, we now have no more holidays scheduled until late June when we celebrate Queen's Birthday.I started writing this piece this morning and now it is the afternoon. Apparently I have a lot of thoughts in the morning, but in the PM they vanish... It is a sad state of affairs when you are as old as me, the mind is the first thing to go. I had all these thoughts lined up... argggh! I am the poster child for Alzheimer's.Oh yeah, I remember now. I am thinking of writing a book. I have some personal experiences I would like to relate about a certain topic. I am not sure whether, after I have finished writing, there will be enough for a book, but I am not really under any deadline so let's see how we go. Any advice? Has anyone else had a go at a book? I am also keen on doing some children's stories for a member of my family. I would like to do some illustrations, but I just can't get it right. Would someone like to help me out by showing me how to draw a dragon? Not just any dragon, but a Chinese one... They are the friendly magical kind...I have also updated my blog list with three more links. They are getting a bit out of control, so eventually I will clean them up, not sure how. My three links are; Cergipontin, a blogger from France who posts photos of her hometown, near Paris. Roman, who provokes interesting debate with his opinion. I don't agree with him generally, but he is very accomodating to other opinions. Red Slipper Lady, who has been a great commenter on my blog. I should have added her sooner, but I, as always, have been really slack!That's it for now, keep cool 'til after school!San Nakji for President!
Another grainy picture from my previous film based existence. London would have to be one of my favourite cities in this world and the sky line is amazing. Try as he might Mr Hitler just couldn't really hurt London, for which I am very thankful. St Paul's Cathedral became famous in 1981 for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Di. It is a beautiful Sir Christopher Wren designed church, but for my money you are better off going to Westminster Abbey where you can see so much more of the History of England and Britain. Double decker buses, a world famous London symbol, have been phased out and replaced with boring buses instead. There are still double deckers for tourists, but it's just not the same.San Nakji for President!
When I was at the FIFA World Cup in 2002 (I can't believe it was that long ago), I first discovered the joy of digital photography. I worked at the World Cup and this photo is of the Korean National Team bus. Koreans, teenage girls in particular, have a habit of expressing their love for various players of their favourite teams by drawing all over buses, dormitories, you name it. It's a hell of a sight!San Nakji for President!
San Nakji for President!
This is a Aotearoa native Gecko. They are quite rare now as cats have thinned their numbers a lot. The problem with native animals here is that they are not good at dealing with the foreign invaders like cats, dogs, rats, stoats, ferrits... I don't know a lot about Geckos. When I was a kid I used to keep the ones that my cat brought inside (yes, I am part of the problem) as pets. This one was really small. Smaller than your index finger. Yes, YOUR index finger.San Nakji for President!
No photos in this post, just for a change. I thought I would mix it up, so to speak. So, how is everyone? I'm fine, thanks for asking. Life is going along at a pace, as it always does and while there are always small potholes in the road, I can't complain. The way I figure it, there's always someone worse off than me, so snap out of it! (As Cher famously said...). What else is happening? Well.... I can't really give too much away about myself. I of course will never post a photo. (Sorry Friar) I wouldn't want to intimidate you with extreme good lookingness. What you can know is that I am from New Zealand, which I like to refer to as Aotearoa (the Maori name). I have a Mrs San Nakji. I am a huge fan of Korea which I try to get to about once a year. Um... what else? I love taking photos, I am quite opinionated and very left wing in my thinking. My hobbies are travel, movies and pub quiz. And for the record my star sign is Taurus. Anything else you would like to know?I found a website where for a small investment I can post my own podcasts. I am thinking that would be something fun to do. I wonder how my accent would go down? I wonder what the hell I would talk about? Would anyone listen? Do I care? So many questions and so much time.I leave you with this thought. If one and one are two and two and two are four, then why did the chicken cross the road?San Nakji for President!
The last one in this series. This Monarch had just hatched and was 'inflating' her wings as I took the photo. They are a truly beautiful creature. Beautiful as caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly. Nature is truly wonderful sometimes. To balance this, another butterfly was also trying to get his wings ready for flight, but they were not cooperating. He was never going to take off and probably starved to death. Nature is both cruel and beautiful.San Nakji for President!
This is a Monarch Butterfly chysalis. I must admit that I haven't seen too many other chyslises (or is that chysali?), but this is quite beautiful. The golden thread is particularly amazing.San Nakji for President!
Out and about on Easter weekend and I found some subjects for my camera. This is a Monarch Caterpillar. I am sure they are all over the place in this world of ours. We don't have a lot of interesting caterpillars here, so this one is about as good as they get.San Nakji for President!
It seems I reached a milestone without realising it. This post is number 501. I am a bit sad that no. 500 was not as happy and flowery as it could have been, but maybe it can be my message to all you kids out there!Thanks for the support thus far. I hope you can be here with me for another 500 posts or more. Happy Easter for those who celebrate. For those who don't, at least enjoy copious amounts of chocolate like I am doing! What better excuse?San Nakji for President!
Kira's Slave is talking to a guy who says he wants to kill himself. He asked me for advice. I have to be honest and say that suicide has never crossed my mind. I can't start to understand what kind of state you would have to be in to even contemplate doing yourself in. That said, I do know about life having lived a fair bit longer than this 17 year old. Life is all about ups and downs. When things are down it is easy to believe that the misery is all about you and no one can possibly know how you feel. Well, anyone can tell you that is crap. We all suffer from life, but we all benefit from it also. How I would miss the taste of bacon if I were to die today. A simple pleasure to be sure, but one that makes life just that little bit better. Everyone has things that make life worth living. Whether it is a big thing like love or a little thing like rain on the roof at night. This is what life is about. We all eventually die, so why rush it. I say enjoy the little things, enjoy the big things when they come along. Every day brings something new, sometimes bad, sometimes good, but who can say? In my opinion life rocks! Death doesn't sound that great... What say you all?San Nakji for President!
A friend from work was kind enough to let me post this photo of a fruitbat making it's way out for the night. It was taken two weeks ago in a inner city Melbourne (Australia) park. I know a lot of people find bats creepy, but for me they are majestic creatures that put other mammals to shame. I am sad to say I have actually eaten one, it was too boney with not enough meat. I am now one with the bats!San Nakji for President!
Twenty years ago, as a struggling and penniless sous chef in Paris, Giorgio Locatelli once saved a month’s salary simply to buy a cut of beef. But then it wasn’t just any cut. It was Wagyu, and it was making its European debut as the world’s most expensive meat. On Saturday he tasted it again, though this time it was free. Which was just as well, really, since the rare ingredient, imported from Japan, was the gourmet filling in Britain’s most expensive sandwich — a speciality which goes on sale from Monday at the Sandwich Counter at Selfridge’s, in Oxford Street. So who better than Giorgio, now a celebrity chef and the owner of Locanda Locatelli, the Michelin-starred restaurant, to give it a taste run? “It’s big, isn’t it,” he says, gazing at the sandwich’s creator, Scott McDonald, Selfridge’s executive chef, who, with the practised dexterity of a professional, slices the 21oz sandwich in two. “It’d better be, mate,” says Scott, “it’s £85 for a round.” But is the costly cut worth it? Well, Giorgio was certainly impressed. “Delicious,” he says, struggling not to lose any of the succulent beef as he tries to get his mouth around the sandwich. “Utterly fantastic mixture of tastes. Tangy, sweet... a monster mouthful that would be a really sexy love food to share with a lover. The beef simply melts, it falls apart. I’m impressed.” But just why does it cost so much? The slices of 24-hour fermented sour dough bread are spread with a mayonnaise flavoured with foie gras (£30 a lb) and black truffle (£340 a lb). There is a generous helping of brie de meaux, considered Europe’s finest cheese. The beef itself, comprising a third of the weight of the sandwich, is a snip at £28 a pound. English cherry tomatoes and rocket, plus peppers roasted on a naked flame and then skinned and sliced finely, complete the presentation.
(From the Telegraph)
San Nakji for President!
This is a photo I took a while back in Korea. to me this is a scene that always reminds me of Korea. Mountains and tradition. San Nakji for President!
My favourite ad on TV here in Aotearoa is a real example of what we find funny. It is a sad sad thing, but I think you should check it out here.Two things you should know. Togs is the New Zealand word for a swimming costume or bathing suit or whatever you call it in your part of the world. Undies are our word for underwear.And yes, he mentions budgie smuggling...San Nakji for President!
In Melbourne, Australia, they had a problem with wanting to build a brand new shopping complex on top of a historic building. Well, for them it wasn't a problem. They built the complex OVER the building... It is quite a sight. I don't know if this has been done elsewhere...San Nakji for President!
I am relying on a library of animals that I have personally photographed at the moment. All of them were in Australia, hence the plethora of Australian animals. In my opinion, Australia has some of the best animals anyway...This little guy above is a Wombat. By far my favourite of all animals. Kind of like Koalas that run around on the ground. Such a fascinating animal, please read the link to learn more. This one was an inhabitant of Melbourne zoo. He looked pretty happy about it too!San Nakji for President!
San Nakji for President!
"Hello, hello. What's going on? What's all this shouting? We'll have no trouble here. This is a local beach for local people..."Actually, I am sure very few of my readers will know this quote, but it is from a show I love called The League of Gentlemen. I don't know why I used it... This photo is of our local beach. Since it was taken NZ has come off daylight saving and I really miss it! It's still pretty warm here, but now it's getting dark as I get home, which really sucks!San Nakji for President!
So I am watching Oprah and she is talking about America's poor. Apparently there are 37 million people on the poverty line out there. That kind of sucks. However what urked me about Oprah was that she visited a place about 100kms from Chicago where most houses don't even have running water. She said it was terrible and then she left... That was it. Here is a woman who is more than happy to give a bunch of greedy white girls some free cars, but she won't give these people $1000 to hook up to the water supply... What the hell?San Nakji for President!
One place you are told you must visit in Greece is Delphi. It is the place of the Oracle, where generations of kings would go to find out whether they would prosper or fail. It is where Alexander was told that he would become a great king and even though those times are long past, it is still an amazing place, set in the mountains overlooking miles of olive trees and in the distance the Gulf of Corinth. I made it there in November when the tourist season was over and was blessed with great weather and the place all to myself. That was the time to go!San Nakji for President!
I have just been watching 28 Days Later. No, not that awful Sandra Bullock movie. (Well, to qualify, they are all awful!) It is a great movie set in a London where a plague has turned everyone into zombies. It sounds awful, and to be fair it isn't the most optimistic film, but there is something fascinating about the idea that London has been turned into a wasteland where a few survivors have to fend for themselves. I think we all imagine ourselves as the survivors somewhere, be it a desert island or a zombie infested metropolis. It is fun to imagine how we would survive and what we would do. I wonder why that thought is so fascinating? Anyway, I haven't seen the end of the film. I am taping it as I write this. Hopefully I will watch it tomorrow morning before work. I have a feeling it is not going to turn out too happy though. Great apocolypse films to watch in my opinion... (not at all humble!)1 - Stephen King's The Stand2 - Quiet Earth (A New Zealand film, bloody good!)3 - Reign of Fire4 - 28 Days Later5 - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (nah, just kidding!)I am sure there are some more, just can't think of them right now...To set the record straight on zombies though. I prefer vampires any day of the week. Zombies seem to be a never ending tide of unstoppable shamblingness... So very depressing. With vampires, at least we have Blade kicking arse for us! Yay Blade!San Nakji for President!
My favourite place in all of Greece is Nafplio, about an hour or so south of Athens. It is so tranquil and is filled with so many amazing sights. It would be the place I would most like to live if I were not here or Korea.... I wish I were there now... *sigh*San Nakji for President!
I was looking through some old photos I took the old fashioned way and started scanning some from my trip to Greece in 2003. I have to count this as one of my favourite trips I have ever taken. Obviously scanned photos don't come out as well as digital photos, but I think this one did quite well. It is a place in southern Greece called Monemvasia. I think I wrote about it before. If you don't remember the story, I can tell you again. Just ask! I think the water came out wonderfully here!San Nakji for President!
San Nakji for President!
While on holiday in Kenya and walking through the bush a man comesacross an elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephantseems distressed so the man approaches very carefully. He gets down onone knee and inspects the bottom of the elephants' foot only to find alarge thorn deeply embedded.Carefully and as gently as he can he removes the thorn and the elephantgingerly puts its foot down. The elephant turns to face the man and witha rather stern look on its face, stares at him. For a good ten minutesthe man stands frozen - thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant turns and walks away.For years after the man often remembers and ponders the events of thatday .One day, many years later, the man is walking through the zoo with hisson. As they approach the elephant enclosure, one of the elephants turnsand walks over to where they are standing at the rail. It stares at himand the man can't help wondering if this is the same elephant. The manclimbs tentatively over the railing and makes his way into theenclosure. He walks right up to the elephant and stares back in wonder.The elephant gazes at him, looking deep into his eyes.Suddenly the elephant wraps its trunk around one of the man's legs andswings him wildly back and forth along the railing, smashing him apartand instantly killing him...
Probably not the same elephant then.San Nakji for President!
Another animal that Brotha Buck may have heard of! Two in a row eh BB?I took this photo in Sydney back in 2001. I recommend the zoo there, it is wonderful. I am not a huge fan of Koalas, much prefer Wombats, but as Koalas are so slow, they are always easy to photograph!San Nakji for President!
Just thought I would post another picture of San Nakji's best friend...
**For Ashley** I told my pooch that you called him a Scottish Terrier and he was devastated. However he is willing to forgive you because your blog is so yellow! Mr Pooch is in fact a rare breed known as a Sealyham Terrier. They are Welsh and their ancestors include Corgis and West Highland Terriers.
Here is the website of the American Sealyham Terrier Club.San Nakji for President!
I am not sure what to make of this. I heard about it the other day and just looked it up on the internet. Have my American readers heard of Mike the Headless Chicken?San Nakji for President!
This one is called Tawharanui Regional Park. It is probably my favourite. It is a really hard drive to get there (no tarsealed roads) and when you get there you are rewarded with beautiful bush and beach. Well worth the effort.In the distance you can see none other than Mrs SN. I can't remember if she is the one on the left or the right...San Nakji for President!
I should probably comment on this place. It is one of the regional parks run by the Auckland Regional Council, which means our city rates pay for it. It is called Mahurangi Regional Park and is probably about just under an hour from my house. It is a great place to go, especially in the Summer, and I feel I should be making more use of these parks all around Auckland.San Nakji for President!
Over at Ashley's blog she has been talking about a bizarre dream she had. Space Nakji is another who has some wacky dreams. However usually I have great peaceful dreams, much better than Mrs SN who is plagued with dreams of a North Korean invasion... However when I come down with the flu or a bad cold, I usually go through a night of the weirdest lucid dreams. My mind races and in true Gen X style each dream lasts only a few minutes. It is quite a ride. Not scary, but makes it really hard to sleep. Am I the only one this happens to? Maybe it is a sign of my unappreciated genius? All I know is that thanks to last night's experience I need to talk to Mark Burnett, I have an awesome idea for an upcoming Survivor!
San Nakji for President!
For posting photos....Here is a photo of some mountains in the South Island of New Zealand. You may have seen them in the Lord of the Rings. Yup, us Kiwis are going to beat that dead horse for ever! (At least until Halo comes out!)
San Nakji for President!
I have been transferring photos from a long disused computer and I found some I had taken with my first ever digital camera. These photos were taken in Korea in 2002 during the FIFA Football World Cup. One of the greatest times in my life was working at the World Cup and I have so many happy memories. Being at the Cup is one of the things I will be able to tell my grandkids and it should still be an impressive boast then! Anyway, this photo was taken the night that Korea beat Spain to advance to the Semi-Finals of the World Cup. Koreans took to the streets in their millions to celebrate and virtually shut down streets to any traffic. My colleagues and I made our way to my old stamping ground of Shinchon ì‹ ì´Œ where we partied with the Koreans. I was taking a photo of the crowd above, however when I looked at my photos the next day I noticed someone I had not expected was in my shot! This week's theme for Photo Friday is Smooth and this guy seems to be just that, or at least he thinks he is!San Nakji for President!
I was looking back at old photos and found this one of my close encounter with a wild Kangaroo in the Blue Mountains in Australia. For a wild animal she sure let me get close. If you look closely you will see that she seems to have more legs than she should. She had a baby, a joey, stowed away in her pouch. She wouldn't give me a good photo though!San Nakji for President!
Yesterday, I was lucky enough to be taken out to lunch by an old colleague who had a credit card from his new company. He told our team that we should choose somewhere nice and expensive. Well, I can think of nowhere better than the top of the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere, the Sky Tower! The food was great, but the weather and the view were better!
This shot is looking at downtown Auckland and out into the harbour, Waitemata harbour. Auckland is home to over 50 volcanoes, but the only one that could cause trouble in the near future is the island in the centre of the photo. Rangitoto is a symbol of Auckland and is also a dormant volcano. Here's hoping that it doesn't go off any time soon!
Further to the right, you can see the eastern suburbs of Auckland and you can also see where I ran last weekend. All along the coast down there. My legs still remember it well! The greenery that you can see is the University of Auckland.
In the middle of town, we have a huge park called the Domain. The building in the middle of it is our museum. It is an amazing structure and well worth a look. It has a mummy! Which is always good in my book ;o)
This is the generally accepted centre of town. The corner of Queen and Victoria Streets. Our city isn't really much compared to Seoul or New York, but it's enough for us.
As we finished our pricey lunch, the weather took a turn for the worse. In this photo you can see the rain coming in from West Auckland. The bridge here is another symbol of Auckland. It is imaginatively called the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Every day I make my way across the bridge from Auckland's North Shore (we call it North Harbour) and work in the city, right next to the Sky Tower. If you look very closely you can even see my house!
Well, that's a brief look at my city. This is kind of a tag too. I would love to see where my readers live. Get out there with a dika (digital camera) and show us what your town is made of!San Nakji for President!
Although she will not confirm it, I have reason to believe that it is Space Nakji's birthday today. Space Nakji shares her birthday with such famous people as 18th Century writer and neo-classic painter Anton Raphael Mengs from Germany and Isaac D Fransen van de Putte, 19th Century Dutch Premier. However I think she will be most proud to know that she shares her birthday with Pat Robertson, well known liberal and lover of equality for all (except pretty much everyone!). Jordan and Lebanon recognise Arab League Day today and Puerto Rico celebrates Emancipation Day.It is always difficult to enjoy days like this when you are away from the people you love. I wish you all the best and I hope everyone who reads this does too.San Nakji for President!
A friend of San Nakji's is currently in India saving wild vultures... He sent me this pic of one of the babies he caught. His job involves climbing cliffs hundreds of metres high and removing chicks before the parents peck him to death... He is mad! The chicks are moved to a sanctuary where the parents will find them. If they are kept where they are then poachers will get them. By reading my friend's email, I feel that I am doing my part to help the world too. All from the comfort of my own desk. Wow, I am feeling so Green right now!San Nakji for President!
On Sunday, I thought it would be a great idea to go for a run around the coast in Auckland City. I thought I would run for about 8km or so. Little did I know, that when I started out I would be joined by 69 999 of my closest friends...The Round the Bays Run is billed as one of the biggest fun runs in the world. It is at the end of summer here and thankfully the sun stayed away, although the humdity did not!Below is the run as I saw it.... Helpful if you are thinking of flying down here to take part, don't you think? Notice that almost everyone is wearing a t-shirt with their company's logo on it. Most companies in Auckland enter their employees and put on a BBQ after. I had three choices for companies and chose my sibling's company, Tegal Chicken. Good BBQ you see?So here I am starting out, the crowd is getting thick. It took me 20 minutes to get to the start line!
Here's the start line. Everyone is going forward, except for the guy in blue... Where is he going? If you click on the photo and get a closer look you can see the Prime Minister of New Zealand's legs. She is standing in a cherry picker behind the left hand side of the start sign...
So here I am coming over the top of the first hill to be confronted with all this humanity. Wouldn't want to be claustraphobic!
More of the same here. 
Just when you are in the throws of exercising, a tempting, most definitely not exercise related, sight comes before your eyes! 
No Ronald, leave me alone! I am exercising!
On the other side of the bay, streams of people, like ants.... 
Click on this panorama to get a better look of the ants! (Up on the hill you can see the most expensive house in New Zealand...)
Finally, the finish line! I can't tell you what my time was, but it was pretty good... Better than any snail!
Ah, nothing like a chicken BBQ served by a woman with a big flower in her hair!
San Nakji for President!
Writing a blog should be a deeply personal thing. That is what makes the blog world so interesting. We get to see so many different view points on this world of ours, and generally we are richer for it. Some of my blogging friends write more personal blogs than others and I think that it is really brave of them to let people, strangers, into their lives in such a way. What annoys me is the way some people who read these blogs think that since they have been granted a window into my friend's lives, they have the right to judge. No matter how much you read someone's blog, you cannot even begin to know how they feel. You will know some opinions they hold on certain issues, but that is it. It is always important to remember the blog only tells you what the writer wants to say. The reason that I say this is that a number of my friends have been attacked on their blogs by people who think they know everything. Well, foolish people, you know nothing. It is ok to hold a different opinion from the one offered in a particular blog, but to actually attack someone for who they are is just crap. I guess we have to remember that not everyone out there in internet land is as pleasant as San Nakji. There are a lot of wankers out there. My hope is that you, my blogging friends, are not bothered by these people and for those who have been bothered already, I will personally make it my mission to hunt down these fools and punish them to the full extent of the law of San Nakji's World. This law is harsh, but fair.San Nakji for President!
The only thing I know about Mongooses... or Mongeese perhaps?, is that they are the champions of kicking snake arse. Apart from that? Who really knows?San Nakji for President!
San Nakji for President!
There was a Praying Mantis on my garage door yesterday. I learned how bad my camera is at close up shots when I couldn't take one decent shot. With a little photoshopping, this was the best one. I hope you like it.San Nakji for President!
Taken early this morning...San Nakji for President!
