Classic quotes

From time to time, we all tend to open our mouths with pearls of wisdom and passing comments then regret doing so before even finishing the statement.  It’s quite amusing when it happens to someone else, and absolute gold when they happen to be famous.  Here are a few I found on the net......

Prince Phillip is famous for putting his royal foot in it and he trod rather heavily on a trip down under when he said this classic quote to an Aboriginal Australian.

“Still throwing spears?”

Former US President Ronald Reagan had this to say whilst testing his TV microphone before going on air. Mr Reagan didn’t realize the live feed was up and running and he was speaking to the pblic.

“My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”

When declining an invitation from former Chinese President Jiang Zemin to extend his China visit, former Russian president Boris Yeltsin said,

"I only have enough food with me for two days."

Former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger had his post terminated but the ex Hollywood movie star had this announcement for the public.

“I think gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman.”

American actress Joan Crawford (1905-1977) uttered these regretful words when being told Pearl Harbour was gone (destroyed).

“Oh dear, who was she?”

Actress and former glamour model Brooke Shields showed the public she was the right person to front an anti-smoking campaign with this intellectual comment, which must have been the fruit of hours of research.

“Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life”

Britney Spears has a few silly quotes attributed to her and I am sure there will be more to come.

“I’ve never really wanted to go to Japan. Simply because I don’t like eating fish. And I know that’s very popular out there in Africa.”

Former BBC TV sports commentator Harry Carpenter winced with embarrassment after saying this whilst commentating on the Oxford – Cambridge University boat race.

“Ah, isn’t that nice, the wife of the Cambridge president is kissing the cox of the Oxford crew.”

I don’t think I can beat that one so I’ll finish there.

Abandoned shops, Chrstchurch.

Stores abandoned.  The pot plant in the cafe on the left lays dead where it fell during the earthquake and the store on the right still had food in the fridges.

One of the many buildings still waiting to be demolished in the city centre.

A hairdressers which looked as though everyone had just walked out and left things at they were.

A Starbucks coffee house still had cups on tables and all the counters set up ready to make coffees.

Creating new windows.

Is life without a television set possible? A house without a TV? I recall visiting elderly relatives as a child and finding they didn't have a televisions set. It was horrifying. I decided they must have been mean or at least senile, resulting in them being quite unaware, isolated and disconnected from the real world. No wonder I wasn't comfortable around them. It wasn't the age thing, or the lack of cream biscuits on offer, it was that without a TV they were obviously uneducated. Years passed by and television became a window to another world. I could travel, learn, laugh and be critical of all that passed on the screen. Life was televised and television became part of life. So when challenged with the logistics of moving overseas recently, it was planned that the TV would be last possession to be sold and the first new purchase upon arrival. As all good plans must do, this went very astray. Other things took priority, a lack of space kept purchases to a minimum and starting work absorbed any spare time. And yet I survived without this essential window to the world. I bought a newspaper every day which kept me informed of events. It was refreshing to not be bombarded with all the noise, movement and colour used in TV commercials to sell, sell, sell while learning about the days dramas. I joined the local library and learnt about ancient empires, travelling overseas and how to care for chickens all in one night. I took the dogs (and Phil) for walks on the beach and met the locals doing the same, and breathed in the clean air being swept in from the Pacific Ocean. It has all been so refreshing and sublime that I don’t want it to end. So, another mean or senile over 40 I may be but so much more aware and connected to the real world than I ever envisaged I could be. These new windows on the world are great.  You should get some.

What is a television apparatus to man, who has only to shut his eyes to see the most inaccessible regions of the seen and the never seen, who has only to imagine in order to pierce through walls and cause all the planetary Baghdads of his dreams to rise from the dust. - Salvador Dali (Spanish artist, 1904-1989)

Christchurch, a broken heart that will heal.

We went for a walk today around some areas of the Christchurch CBD which were damaged in the 2012 earthquake. What I mean is, we went for a walk today around the Christchurch CBD which was almost completely destroyed in the 2012 earthquake. That second version still doesn't exemplify the huge looses of buildings or sound remotely as graphic as the destruction that we saw. So instead, here a few photos.

End of Cashel Street Mall looking in to what used to be the CBD packed with tall office buildings, malls and businesses. Thats Phil standing in the middle of the photo.

An old theatre just south of the CBD.  Up close you can see the intricate carvings and masonry of the ceilings and walls.

A very familiar street scene.

A deserted mall. Many of the shops still had everything in them - food, clothes, coffee cups on the tables.  There was a hairdressers which even had all of the scissors and utensils on the counters.

Christ Church Cathedral waiting repairs.  Once the premier landmark of the city.

Nature is reclaiming what we can no longer use.

Hello New Zealand, we're back.

Leaving New Zealand to return to Australia in March of last year never felt quite right. Maybe we were forcing ourselves to go because we had declared from the onset that our time in New Zealand was finite and Australia is where we both wanted to live. Selling up and returning to our homeland was part of the original plan that we had set ourselves and consequently must be observed. So leave we did.

Now we have returned to New Zealand to live for a second time and it feels as if our year in Australia was merely a dream. Not even that, it was something I saw on television or maybe read about. Thinking about our time in Darwin stirs no emotional connection. It was a time and place so far removed from how I feel now that I can barely recognise the experience as one of my own. I love Australia, I really do. It will always be my home and I will miss its diverse and remarkable beauty, the family and friends that it nurtures and the opportunity that a future return is always possible. For now though, for today as I stand windswept on a wild beach and gaze towards precipitous mountain ranges that stretch far beyond any horizons, it feels great to be back. I await enthusiastically what the next stage of life has in store for me. I can’t help but smile.