EQC phone home

This post could just as easily been called 'Dances with numbers'... as, just like the movie, the story is quite long. But I'll do my best to get to the point this side of Xmas.

A while back, EQC was doing a big promotional push to encourage people to submit the details necessary for their contents claim to be paid out. "In by October 24th, paid by Xmas", they proclaimed. Which was fine by us - the only contents claim we had submitted was for the carpets & curtains in our demolished home. The proof required by EQC (or so we thought) was the certificate of demolition, which we'd submitted after the house was bulldozed in July.

12 days of (Canterbury) Christmas

Hat tip to the CSO, who performed their version during the Cantabrian Christmas concert. (I've altered a few things to suit the photos I've taken...)

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS, SHAKEYTOWN STYLE

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

A visit from the EQC.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

 Two sticky doors, 

and a visit from the EQC.

Do not pass go, do not collect $200

If life were like Monopoly, we'd be on our way to jail for about the fifth time, hoping it doesn't take too long to roll a double. Unfortunately there's no similar quick fix in real life, and Monopoly money won't pay the bill either.

When our house was being demolished, we thought we were doing the right thing by leaving the driveway intact. Our house planning involves an internal access garage right on that line, and it kinda made sense. It might've worked, but it seems the customer isn't always right. This building game is not one we've played before, and the playing field keeps changing - as do some of the rules.

Fairy Lights fundraiser

We're a city of many colours these days, and most of us are only just finding out all the intricacies of being different shades of green. I went to the Flying Nun 30th Anniversary gigs this weekend, and all around me people were discussing the ramifications of this latest round of zonings. It's kinda funny, because little ol' C-city has always been preoccupied with zones... only they used to be school zones, not land zones. Same shit, different day really, and as a wise man once said, 'it isn't easy being green'...

It isn't easy living here fullstop. People round here don't talk about 'normal'. We've gone off the phrase 'new normal' as well because it isn't normal, and it's no longer new. Daily life can grind you down if you don't stop to smell the roses every once in a while, and appreciate the simple pleasures that still exist.

Highs & lows

Well it's been an interesting month or so... not that much of it made it onto the blog! Real life kept getting in the way of posting but I'm pleased to say that my final essay has been completed and sent off to be marked.

If life has been a bit up-&-down lately, at least the planet has been vaguely still... it's been a while since I've felt anything really noticeable in the way of shakes. But, of course, in the back of the mind is the memory that this is what it was like in mid-Feb and early-June, you know, before we got rudely reminded that fault lines rupture any time they damn well please. So, I haven't finished looking for pieces of wood to touch every time I have a conversation about a quiet earth. (edit: heh, see - one rolled through not long after typing this. Only little tho, M 3.2)

Audiovisual interlude

For your viewing/reading/listening pleasure...

...or not, as the case may be... lots of empty sites in this vid.

TVNZ7's Media7 programme was shot on location in Chch recently... click here to view. It includes a look at the CEISMIC project, being led/compiled by UC.

Dude looks like a lady

I've always maintained that there's a song for everything, for every moment, and I often use them in my uni essay titles. Among others, I've used song and album titles from the likes of Blam Blam Blam (There is no depression in New Zealand), Sex Pistols (Never mind the bollocks), and Elvis Presley (All shook up). I have an article (soon to be published), about the pop music played at the 2007 Netball World Championships, that quotes the Andy Williams song, 'Music to watch girls by' in its title.

Today's song is appropriate for a number of different reasons, as it echoes a theme that has been featuring in some of my recent work.