I saw part of the memorial service for the 1st anniversary of the big movements, but thought it was blatantly biased to a non specific christian ideology.

Were there any agnostics, devout cowards, muslims, and others of a non christian ilk affected by the earthquake?

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A picture is worth a thousand words. A chocolate is worth a thousand pictures.

Perhaps all the "others" had private memorial services arranged by members of their gangs.

"non specific christian ideology"

I watched tonight on TV "When a City Falls"

It started badly. A feather-cloaked Maori tried to blow a conch shell. It should have been a hauntingly beautiful bugle-like blast, similar in emotional content to a well-played "Last post."

It was crap. It sounded like a first time bugle blower badly blowing a bugle badly for the first time, badly. (It wasn't his fault, it was ... just one of those things. His bugle (conch) didn't work. I felt his pain, intensely.)

Following that, a Maori Elder gave a blatantly self-serving "Maori-serving" speech in Maori which had less to do with the results of the various quakes than to do with the ongoing (occasionally valid) subject of indigenous Maori rights.

But. The religion and ethnicity of each of the 185 dead was specifically honoured by a representative of each religion of each of the dead. Maori, Pakeha, Russian, Korean, Japanese, German... others I don't recall (shame on me) each had a representative of that culture speak (sing, chant, recite) a panegyric of that specific person.

Another "but."

Bunyip, I may not have understood what you were saying.

I'm an agnostic, a devout coward, pacifist and essentially a (White elderly male New Zealand European non Christian nice guy) normal Kiwi, but...

No, I think I miss your point. Yes, there was the usual Christian-biased commentary and music, but that's just what happens in this kind of disaster. God did this, God did that, God meant this, God meant that... I say (lovingly, agnostically) "Yeah, right," and carry on doing what needs doing.

No, Bunyip, I (no offense,no disagreement, just not sure what you're saying) miss your point.

I (really non-PC for a New Zealander) thought there was far too much Maori political "seize the moment we're on TV to hell with the reason just push our agenda" at the start of the documentary, but it certainly faded as the film progressed.

Here, have a chocolate. (It's Swiss, made from the milk of contented cows, and the cacao beans of lovingly nurtured cacao trees, and it's yours. Just yours.)

More clarification?

Oh, were you talking about "When a City Falls.", or something else?

It is offensive , isn't it.


Just because you don't believe in some deity they try to assert themselves by acts of wanton violence.

When my mother was rather badly hurt several years ago, she spent a lot of time in the hospital, then in a nursing home. She's much better now, but at some point she realized she was complaining a lot. She laughed, and said she must be feeling better, to be up to complaining. So, MC, keep complaining. The news channels don't care if another set of books fell off your shelves, but we do. Your drunken rants and Rubiks complaints are a bit amusing, at any rate.

And whatever is wrong with me today, at least I don't have to worry about daily earthquakes or aftershocks. Or Rubik's cubes. It's good to be reminded of that!

I probably shouldn't let a whole month go by without a reply, which doesn't leave a lot of time.

Aftershocks are s.. Bloody hell. We just had another one as I typed that.
[www.geonet.org.nz]

Anyway, the frequency and intensity of aftershocks has (have?) diminished. They still don't bother me much (yeah, right), but many people I know in Christchurch are in danger of whiplash from the snapping of their overstressed last remaining nerve. No matter how small the effect (slap in the face with a wet bus ticket) when it reaches slap 11,000 the next slap is not the same as the first slap, particularly when there's a very good chance that the medium may unexpectedly change from bus ticket to baseball bat (delivered by trebuchet).

The insurance money is running out. Insurance companies are collapsing. People are leaving the city, businesses are closing, infrastructure is still damaged, the very ground under our feet may at any stage be unable to support a single person, let alone a building.

On the other hand, after 30 years of very slow, much (30 years? are you sure? Well, yes, you started about 1982 on the Commodore bulletin board with a 300 baud acoustic modem which output text more slowly than you could read it, then you got the 1200 baud modem, and later went through 9,600, the huge upgrade to 14k4, then the 28k8, followed by the (what was it? I don't recall - 35 something), followed by the ultimate state of the art 56k which was where you stayed for... quite a long time) less than broadband speed, I've finally upgraded to broadband. Quite fast broadband. Oh, and I bought a smartphone. Yay me.

And... that quake 5 minutes ago was magnitude 3.2, 6k deep and centered less than 1k from my home.

Once again, I've accidentally remained very close to topic for nearly ten minutes. I'm so sorry. To move to a lighter note, please, please check this out, verify the facts for yourself (be very aware of government suppression in many countries) and sign the petition. I know that the New Zealand Government (despite reports there is a deliberate high-level cover-up) remains unconcerned about this important issue, but perhaps you in your country can help.

Be aware that:
Dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Here in New Zealand it is the major cause of death in children 15 years and younger. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there. Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage.

Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.

Please, for your own sake and that of the children (think of the children! Who will think of the children?!), go to the following link, go back to the home page, look through the whole site, and do whatever you can to help make the world more aware of this huge problem, ignored and rejected by officialdom in almost every country in the world.

[www.dhmo.org]

True words. The deeper reason for the Titanic tragedy 100 years ago was DHMO.

As big a problem on land is DHMO it is the saline polluted DHMO on our beaches that also presents a hazard to people, especially those who come from DHMO depleted countries.

Here in Christchurch we just had another quake. Another quake. Another quake. Another quake. Another quake. Another quake.

Holy Mary Mother of God from the very depths of my agnostic soul enough with the quakes already. STOP. I get it. I propose, you dispose. Point taken. ow just LEAVE ME ALONE.

<Drinks>

wonders what Christchurch's anthem is?

"Shakin' all over"

or

"a whole lot of shakin' goin on"

or

"Shake, rattle and roll"?


Any other bad taste and/or puns in mind?

If not, craves humble apology and grovels exiting stage left.....

We had assorted versions of "Tumblin' Down" for a while, a line or two from "Rock My World," but in the end it was just back to Nursery Rhymes, "We all Fall Down."

Have just learned, by reading notes accompanying photographs in book, that Dame Ngaio Marsh lived in Christchurch.

Were the earthquakes caused by the ghost of Agatha Christie seeking to assault a better writer?

It's possible. The Dame Ngaio Marsh Theatre is still closed from earthquake damage.

I think the opening production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night was directed by Ngaio Marsh.

I think she's still peeved 'cos her parents gave her a name she had to spell out every time somebody asked her what she was called.

Actually it is an anagram, or pwerhaps one of those things where each letter is the start of a word. Is that called an 'acrostic'

answers in very plain English please.

Ngaio is a Maori name derived from the Maori word ngaio, meaning "deliberate, thorough" and "restless."

Ngaio is also the Maori name for a small flowering bush with leaves you can crush and rub on your skin to stop biting sand-flies and mosquitoes.

I have a ngaio bush in the back yard. They look quite attractive.

Today at lunchtime there was yet another quake - magnitude 3.3, nothing unusual.
What made it interesting was that it was quake number 11,000 since the big one on September 4th, 2010.

11,000 of them!

Here's some interesting pics.

[www.stuff.co.nz]

Largest 25 quakes:
Mag	Depth	Date	        Time
7.1M	11km	4/9/2010	04:35
6.4M	7km	13/6/2011	14:20
6.3M	6km	22/2/2011	12:51
6M	7km	23/12/2011	15:18
5.9M	7km	22/2/2011	14:50
5.9M	9km	13/6/2011	13:01
5.9M	10km	23/12/2011	13:58
5.8M	6km	22/2/2011	13:04
5.6M	10km	4/9/2010	04:56
5.5M	9km	6/6/2011	09:09
5.5M	14km	2/1/2012	05:45
5.5M	10km	6/6/2011	09:09
5.5M	8km	9/10/2011	20:34
5.4M	9km	21/6/2011	22:34
5.4M	5km	4/9/2010	16:55
5.4M	6km	6/9/2010	23:40
5.3M	15km	7/9/2010	03:24
5.3M	10km	23/12/2011	14:06
5.3M	9km	16/4/2011	17:49
5.3M	9km	4/9/2010	11:12
5.3M	8km	7/1/2012	01:21
5.3M	12km	22/7/2011	05:39
5.2M	12km	10/5/2011	03:04
5.2M	11km	30/4/2011	07:08
5.2M	10km	25/5/2012	14:44

Edited to garner more sympathy since the medium of text is insufficient to convey my hurt, puppy-dog eyes and quivering upper lip.

Just as well, really. It's not a pretty sight.

Here, have a random bit of info.
[www.youtube.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2013 11:34AM by MistyCat.

We have a television program coming on soon about the disasters of Christchurch.

Will it be as big a disaster as the real thing, with the American style of awful narration and full of 'could have beens'?

I dread watching it.

I don't know which documentary it will be. I have seen "When a City Falls," which was not too over-done.

In three days (22 Feb 2013) it will be the two year anniversary of the second big quake, which killed 185 people in Christchurch.

Since then someone has made a compilation of the public's own personal videos and phone-photos of the day, but I've not yet seen that.

Just thought I'd mention that today's quakes near Wellington are over 400 kilometres from my home.
My most sincere sympathy to anyone affected.