A Heartwarming Tale of Man and Beast

While on holiday in Kenya and walking through the bush a man comes
across an elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant
seems distressed so the man approaches very carefully. He gets down on
one knee and inspects the bottom of the elephants' foot only to find a
large thorn deeply embedded.
Carefully and as gently as he can he removes the thorn and the elephant
gingerly puts its foot down. The elephant turns to face the man and with
a rather stern look on its face, stares at him. For a good ten minutes
the 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 that
day .

One day, many years later, the man is walking through the zoo with his
son. As they approach the elephant enclosure, one of the elephants turns
and walks over to where they are standing at the rail. It stares at him
and the man can't help wondering if this is the same elephant. The man
climbs tentatively over the railing and makes his way into the
enclosure. 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 and
swings him wildly back and forth along the railing, smashing him apart
and instantly killing him...

Probably not the same elephant then.

San Nakji for President!

Weekly Animal Pic - Koala

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!

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Long Time No Pooch!

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.

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What to Make of This?

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?

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Another Regional Park

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...

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From the Archive

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.

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Dream

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!

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Because I am in the Mood

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!)



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Photo Friday - Smooth

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 신촌 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!

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Weekly Animal Pic - Kangaroo & Friend

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!

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Auckland from Above

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!

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Happy Birthday Space Nakji!

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.

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Vulture

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!

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The Run

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!



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Personal Blogs

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!

Weekly Animal Pic - Mongoose

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?

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Keep this in mind

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Mantis on Glass

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.

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Moons Aplenty

Taken early this morning...

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Dreams Part Two

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