New Zealander Lance Abernethy Uses A 3D Printer To Make The World's Smallest Electric Drill...

Auckland maintenance engineer Lance Abernethy who's been making tiny things since he was a small child drew up the plans using the computer design software package Onshape 3D and the Ultimake Two 3D printer to print out the drill body in two halves which took about twenty five minutes. And then it took another three hours to painstakingly get the wiring perfect. What could be the world's tiniest electric drill 
is powered by a hearing aid battery and
a miniature motor.
For his next trick Lance is hoping to drill
the world's smallest hole...

New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key Isn't Planning Telling The Truth About Anything Anytime Soon...

New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key, say it quick and it sounds like Shonkey or Donkey,
told reporters when asked about how he denies any knowledge, fudges answers, tells half truths, has convenient memory lapses, avoids answering by sidestepping the questions, obfuscates and pulls the wool over the eyes of those he thinks came down in the last shower that he won't be changing his ways in this,
his third term in office.
Hell, I've got a winning formula here and it serves me right, I mean well. I can't see the point in changing my ways and telling the truth now at this time in my illustrious career.
What about the petition addressed
to you Mr Key urging you to get treatment for your pathological lying?
Ha! You know what I think about petitions.
There's people out there who actually believe what I say and one of my closest personal friends even calls me Honest John...

Come Play With Us...

Dolphin Days.
A pod of twenty to thirty dolphin had a play
near Leigh on Auckland's beautiful Hauraki Gulf
the other day. Who'd need a second invitation
to engage with these amazing creatures...

Sarah And William Show Love Is Possible Without The Internet...

There's a Scottish tourist called Sarah
sitting on the grass at picturesque Picton,
New Zealand's inter-island ferry terminal
to the South Island.
She sees a man walking his dog and fancies him. The man, not the dog. Well maybe the dog too. So anyway, she writes a lovely note, an invite on a card, to meet her there on Tuesday.  Suddenly the whole world knows Sarah is looking for this guy and it only takes a nanosecond for him to be identified as William and informed he's the most desired man
on the planet.
And yes, they do meet on Tuesday
but will they fall in love and still be an item
by Wednesday.
For those watching this space.
An update Monday March 9.
Sarah and William have informed the media
that their relationship is all over.
And good on them, probably the only way the two will ever get some privacy. It's all got a bit out of control they said as they went off in different directions so they could meet up and who knows, perhaps travel the same path. Together... 

My Life Priorities...

In 2004 I just happened to be at Tauranga Bay
in New Zealand's Northland. Tauranga Bay is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, near the entrance to the famed Whangaroa Bay.
For some reason I decided to write My Life Priorities. The words that follow here were written in less than one hour without faltering, altering or editing.
I haven't desired to change anything since.
Until today it has been a very personal and private document and few people have seen it.
And now the time seems right to share my most important life priorities with you.

I choose to have in my life.
A beautiful, simple, serene, harmonious environment in which to live, play and work.
One that is safe and warm, that gives me pleasure to be in. That nourishes me and is essential to my spiritual being. One that honours me and one that is surrounded by nature.

I choose to have in my life.
The essentials to care for my body, health, mind and soul. Good food, music, literature and a few well chosen friends.

I choose to have in my life.
The means and the options to communicate with any other should I desire.

I choose to have in my life.
Goals that are achieved by adhering to the philosophy of  'If I don't need it, I don't need to go to work to earn the money to buy it'.
That less is more for me. And that success is not what one has but can love living without.
I choose to live the way Thoreau described when he said ' I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to front only the essentials of life and to see if I could not learn what it had to teach. And not, when it cam time to die, discover I had not lived.

I choose to have in my life.
The most valuable currency of all. Time.
Some of it spent in solitude and as much as possible to do whatever I wish to do as slowly as I wish to do it. I am in no hurry to pursue the end of my life.

I choose to have in my life.
The love of a woman, who, will not only be able to share much of my life philosophy but practically too, the things that are important to me. A person whose life I am able to enhance and who is able to enhance mine.

I choose to have in my life.
Enough. And that is what I have.

I choose to have in my life.
The means to achieving my real obligation. To fulfilling my own personal destiny.

I choose to have in my life.
The strength and honesty to be true to myself.

Keith

You'll Do As I Say Or Else...

The US President Barak Obama tells New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, which way to jump, when to jump and how high.
Unfortunately this cynical view is not far from
the truth with Prime Minister Key's policies increasing social inequalities and the wealth of New Zealanders already very rich.
While making sure the poor remain poor thus taking this once egalitarian society further and further away from the caring one it used to be.
And you'll do what I tell you John, or else I won't let you play golf with me again. Ok...

Hopefully It's The Beginning Of A Great New Year...

Hopefully it's the beginning of a great new year for all of us.
For Eliana Tim and their children Antonella and Max who are celebrating in their brand new but many years old classic vintage caravan at Uretiti Campground in New Zealand's Northland,
it will be an especially wonderful beginning.
Wishing you a very Happy New Year too...

Can You Believe This...

Have you heard the one about the idiot,
the car and the kayak?
New Zealand's local Coromandel police recently caught the driver of this car driving down a busy coastal highway with a kayak strapped across the vehicle. Yes, across the vehicle.
Fortunately the idiot hadn't driven very far
when  apprehended.
Unbelievable...

A Naked Cyclist Gets Fined. For Not Wearing A Helmet...

A naked cyclist in New Zealand's Timaru was fined the other day.
For not wearing a helmet.
In Australia and in New Zealand, wearing a helmet is compulsary and non compliance can result in a fine of  up to $3,000
And in another act of bureaucratic and judicial craziness again in New Zealand where stupidity is alive, well and thriving, a Marlborough couple were fined $20,000 each for not wearing helmets while driving their farm quad bikes.
It's a mad mad world we live in...

Napier Dentist Gary Winter Gives Free Emergency Dental Care For A Day...

It was the twelfth day before Christmas
and in the spirit of the season of goodwill Gary Winter from  DentalOnRaffles decided to give something back to the local Napier community.
Knowing full well how some people just cannot afford dental treatment, he and his staff worked all day giving around one hundred Hawkes Bay folk who arrived and enjoyed sharing the day, the sunshine and each other's company, free emergency dental care.
They filled more than thirty teeth and performed over one hundred extractions in what Gary says was the most gratifying and humbling experiences of his thirty eight year career.
And yes, it's definitely something they'll do again.
Good on you Gary and thankyou...

The Wagon Of Fools And Other Land Yachts...

The Wagon of Fools is a famous land yacht painting by the Dutch artist Hendrik Gerritsz Pot. It was painted in 1637 and depicts the Haarlem weavers, having abandoned their looms to follow Flora, Goddess of Flowers. Flora, her arms laden with tulips was riding to an imminent death along with a selection of tipplers, money changers et al.
Before that in 1600, in the second image, the wonderful wind chariot or land yacht featured was designed by inventor Simon Stevin for Prince Maurice of Orange.
The next two images aren't quite as salubrious but still part of land yachting history and the last image features land yachts at New Zealand's Muriwai Beach.
It was then and still is, a lot of fun...

Swiss Banker Andreas Pletscher Quits Counting Money To Pedal Around New Zealand...

There's more to life than money laughs the Swiss ex-banker Andreas Pletscher as he packs up his tent and minimum belongings to climb on his Cannondale to continue his ride to the Far North and New Zealand's Cape Reinga.
I caught up with him at the Department of Conservation's Uretiti campground recently.
Here was a man who knew the value of money but wasn't prepared to give his life for it.
Less is more he delighted in telling me.
The less I have to work to earn money to buy things I don't need, the more time I have to live a life I can imagine...

Thomas Frey Is A Futurist. He's An Architect Of The Future...

Some people trade in futures.
Thomas Frey predicts futures.
He's a self titled Architect of The Future.
He's a lateral thinker and not afraid to take risks with ideas.
His interesting blog The Futurist is here
but let's look at how he sees a new future for public libraries.
The Colorado based Thomas Frey was the keynote speaker at a recent Library conference in New Zealand and told the audience that a new chapter was beginning for libraries as
community based assets.
As well as continuing to loan out books, games, movies and music, they would be lending flying drones, have 3D printers available, become movie and music studios, theatres, that libraries would obtain newly invented products and through corporate sponsorship, make them available for community use.
He has an optimistic view of life as we know it. And that's good...

This Young Family Living Their Dream In A Caravan Are Having The Time Of Their Lives...

Jessica and Aaron have been on the road in their funky little caravan for a few months.
They could have waited as most people do before they followed their dream but they didn't.
They wanted to escape the rat race and they knew how important it was to live in the now.
They wanted quality time together and to grow as a family. It wasn't that they could really afford to financially but they decided that they couldn't afford not to. Finances they decided, had little
to do with their chosen way of life.
Giving their gorgeous little girls Ayla six and Skye five a life worth living was what they desired. They wanted a quality life and they wanted to be together.
Chasing the dollar to pay for a mortgage was not for them. They were not going to live lives of quiet desperation thankyou Mr Thoreau.
Home schooling takes up an important part of the day and then there's the rest of it which invariably turns into an adventure.
Aaron, a sought after Sommelier is able to get work at top restaurants and so they may be in one place for a time while he replenishes
the family purse.
Jessica, a graphic artist in another life, now makes children's clothes and beautiful wedding dresses which she sells in New Zealand
and overseas.
They've dreamed of a life worth living.
They're living their dream...

New Zealand Leads The World In Economic Growth But Some Of The Country's Poor Resort To Living In Cars...

According to the number crunching gnomes at Credit Suisse, New Zealand's wealth since the year 2000 has grown more than any other country in the world.
It must be something in the water down under because Australia ranks second.
I'm sure the economists in Auckland, New Zealand's richest city, are patting themselves on the back, congratulating each other and saying how clever they are.
And I'd applaud them too, maybe I will, when we eliminate poverty and reduce the growing gap between the haves and the have nots.
I should live that long.
So people like the Tuuu family of five are not compelled by circumstances beyond their control, to live in their car.
In the country called Aotearoa,
The Land Of The Long White Cloud.
For some, the forecasted future continues to appear bleak with black clouds
and very little sunshine coming their way...

John Cleese Lost His Virginity In New Zealand Fifty Years Ago. Have You Seen It?

The brilliant British comedian John Cleese
lost his virginity on his first tour to New Zealand fifty years ago.
Initially embarrassed by inadvertently misplacing it somewhere, the funny man who's famous for Fawlty Towers, Monty Python and A Fish Called Wanda still has fond memories of his virginity and despite international police investigations and private searches there's been no sitings of the highly elusive intimate body part.
I would really like to be re-united with it once more he said, even for a short time.
Just for sentimental reasons...

Housetruck Living Doesn't Get Much Better Than This...

While the rest of the world deals with multiple mindless acts of madness, spare a thought for the folk who endure staying awhile in this beautifully restored old housetruck.
Life doesn't get much better than this and if you want to try it you'll find this particular gorgeous old lady of the road here at Golden Bay on the top of New Zealand's South Island.
So if you're thinking of getting away from it all, just get into something on wheels and take yourself far away from the madding crowd.
If you can dream it you can do it...

Newlyweds Mr And Mrs Stuart Start Married Life On A High...

The newly wedded Belinda and Campbell Stuart started their married life a few days ago
on quite a high.
Photographer Eric Ronald whisked them away from Criffel Station by helicopter immediately after the ceremony to the top of Mount Roy in New Zealand's beautiful Wanaka area.
Here's to many more highs Mr and Mrs Stuart...

Wildboy Brando Yelavich Arrives In Auckland On His Way To Completing His Epic Walk Around New Zealand's Beautiful Coastline...

I caught up with Brando, his mother Donella, sister Brooke and dad Todd at Auckland's Mission Bay a couple of days ago.
Brando will spend the next few days in the Auckland area speaking to and inspiring young children at many schools in the area before continuing on the last few hundred or so kilometers of his epic walk around New Zealand's beautiful coastline...

Guy Bucchi Creates Beautiful Pieces Of Art From Metal And New Zealand Timbers...

Guy Bucchi makes beautiful handcrafted pieces of art that some inspired people call chairs and actually use them for sitting in.
Then there are beautiful tables and candlelabra, all made at his Matakohe studio.
His work has featured in many major design publications and has been exhibited in France, Italy, Australia and of course in New Zealand.
All his exquisite pieces are crafted using only hand tools which for him remain unequaled for their elegance and usefulness.
Guy was born in the South of France near Avignon and after a career that included sheetmetal working and psychiatric nursing, he began while living in Australia to pursue the art of furniture making.
His talent for this particular art became obvious and he and his New Zealand born wife Linda moved to their current location where he uses metal, local woods such as Swamp Kauri, Rimu and Manuka as well as leather, copper, rope, iron and glass to bring much pleasure to all who view or own his unique art.
There's more about him here.
Linda runs a Bed and Breakfast on their Northland property and as a lovely touch,
plants a Native Tree for each and every guest that stays there...