Greenpeace, New Zealand

http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2009/01/greenpeace.html


http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2009/09/palm-oil-and-green-peace.html

Last year, around this time, I met a Greenpeace member selling their calenders and I did a post on him. Today, I was doing a fleeting shopping trip when I saw Vive and her friend outside the Warehouse at Balmoral. I did a second take and asked if I could take her photo and do a post on Greenpeace and the Talks at Copenhagan.

I am not a member of Greenpeace, but many of our ideologys are similar. I post every Wednesday on what I am passionate about. I write about conservation and recycling.

It was Mad Max who first had the greatest impact on my thinking. Since watching Mad Max in 1984, I refuse to watch motor sports. Why are people still burning their rubber knowing one day, the fossil fuel will burn out? In all due respect to our famous Scott Dixon, who is our driving champion.

In school, I teach the children sustainalbity and conservation. The kids recycle their waste paper, and collect peels for the compost. We have worm farms and compost maker.

Socially, I join Ngarimu in his teaching of zero waste and worm farming.http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2009/02/new-zealand-waitangi-day-2009-2.html I paki-paki Ngarimu on his tree replanting effort.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior

I would never forget the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior at the Auckland wharf. This September, I was at a tour of the Auckland Port. The tour guide pointed to us where the ship was sank. It is incredible how foreignors could come into Auckland waters and sink a boat. Before joining the tour, we had to present a photograph ID. I told the Water Engineer, remember Rainbow Warrior?

http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/

Vive asked me if I would sign their petition to the leaders at Copenhagen. I happily signed.

Ka Pai and Paki-paki Vive and her friends.

Save our world and think green: Human power vehicles

http://reducefootprints.blogspot.com/

http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com

When I was young in Sibu, Borneo, my siblings and I would not be seen dead in one of these trishaws. My great grand mother aka Ah Tai, when she saw us walking, pitied us, and kept telling us to hop aboard, and we would walk faster away from her, hoping nobody saw us.

Now, trishaws are a tourist thing. In Singapore they go in batches of 20 trishaws going to tourist places. In this picture, taken at the Mulu resort, porters transfer luggages to the chalets. Some kids think it's cool to ride in one. In Auckland, it is also a tourist thing.

A fellow blogger in Europe tells me that these rickshaws are free as they are sponsored by the advertisers. On Sunday, I saw one of these and he had lots of advertisements on his trishaw but he was charging people.

Trishaws should be used more often since they do not have any carbon footprint and tourists get to see the sights slowly and in detail.

Our world Tuesday, Auckland Sky Tower

The elevator was a transparent bubble, you can look out or look down.


http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

We were up the main observation level of the Sky Tower. We were up 192 meters and had a 360 degrees panoramic view of Auckland city. The tower is 328 metres, and is the tallest man-made structure in New Zealand and offers breathtaking views for up to 80 kilometres in every direction.

We traveled very quickly in a glass floor elevator, and felt the air pressure as I went down. I have been to the Empire State Building ans the New York Twin Towers, and I don't remember the pressure in my ears. May be I ate too much in the restaurant, and I was being punished for being a glutton.

White I went round the rim, parts of the floor were transparent plastic. Some of the visitors did not dare to walk over it. Some kids jump on it much ti the horror of other grown ups. When I was walking on it, naturally, I put my hands on the inside rail.

Macro Monday: Dahlia

http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/

This was the first bloom of my neighbour's dahlia bush. I took the photo last week. Now he has six blooms.

Sunday still: Maritime Technology

a Sextant

mirrors in a light house



Polynesian boats






http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/
Sunday Stills, the next challenge: Technology
Posted in Sunday Stills Challenge of the Week, the next challenge with tags Sunday Stills Challenge on December 6, 2009 by Ed

Thanks for all the well wishes, it has been a fun year and I’ll try to keep the challenges coming. Most will be new but we may revisit some of the old ones too.

Now on to this next weeks challenge, Technology, this can be just about anything electronic that makes life a bit easier or in some cases a pain in the butt..:-))

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Auckland prides herself to be the city of sails, and is reputed to have more boats per capita int he world. So when the America's cup comes, Aucklanders are very excited.

In 1995, Peter Blake led the NZL32, the boat Team New Zealand sailed to America's Cup victory at San Diego in 1995. Peter has been regarded as New Zealand's finest yachtsman. Sadly he met his premature death. He was murdered by pirates on the Amazon River in Brazil a little over eight years ago.

Today, I went to view the Blue Water Black Magic - A Tribute to Sir Peter Blake, at the Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum on Auckland's waterfront

For this weekend's challenge, I will devote photos to the incredulous yacht that made every New Zealander proud, and some of the maritime equipment.

Cyber crime

I recently read Jeffery Deaver's The Blue Nowhere and a chill went up my spine. It is a fiction but the scenarios could well happen.

In the New Zealand News today, a florist in a small town of New Zealand is facing charges of tampering online with her competitors' details to gain a business advantage. Customers told her competitors that their telephone numbers on Google maps were wrong.
Florist faces landmark cyber-crime court case

In our "Fair Go" TV show, Our Consumer advocates screened that people reported that photos were stolen, and there was nothing we can do about it. They suggested that when we post our photos, we can resize them so they cannot be reproduced as good a resolution. Another way is to date the photos or photoshop them with your own water mark.

Support, Attitude and Honesty

Steve Price, the Captain of the New Zealand Rugby League giving his speech as a Guest speaker.

Steve giving a prize to a student.

Here is Sam with his teacher Matthew Chong. It was great to have a male teacher for a teen age boy. Sam liked Matt much more than his other teachers.

Here's Sam getting his prize, a pity I was sneaking behind at the wrong side of the hall.




It's Sam's Balmoral Intermediate School's Annual Prizegiving. He was there for two years and next year, he goes to Mt Albert Grammar school.

Honestly, nobody wants to attend a school's prizegiving unless your child is receiving a prize. I heard from some one saying, it is like attending someone's kids performance. But if your child is getting a prize, you will be very alert despite the heat in the school hall.

Sam did win a prize, in fact he won one too last year. But this year, he won a special prize. He achieved Distinction in the Final Challenge Competition associated with Problem Challenge organised by Otago University. He came 4th in the whole of New Zealand. I was a very very proud mum.

I was also impressed with the school. They started the program with the Maori Haka Kepa. Many of you who follow rugby would have seem Haka performed by our national players before an international match.

I was impressed that they had the welcome by 9 different languages, Te Reo (Maori), Tongan, Bulgarian, Mandarin, Arabic, Thai, Urdu, Cantonese and English.

I didn't know who Steve Price, the guest speaker was, but I liked his speech, Support, Attitude and Honesty. He spoke that he is an Australian and played Rugby league. I asked Sam's teacher who Steve Price is to the school. Steve is the Captain of New Zealand Rugby league, the warriors and is a parent to the school. Ka Pai to him to come and support them school.

Steve Price (born 12 March 1974 in Dalby, Queensland) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who currently captains the New Zealand Warriors of the NRL. A Queensland State of Origin and Australian international representative prop forward, he previously played for the Bulldogs, with whom he won premierships in 1995 and 2004. Price has recently published an auto-biography titled Be Your Best with Ben Blaschke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Price_(rugby_league)


www.balmoral.school.nz/
Balmoral School was opened as Brixton School in 1926.

http://www.otago.ac.nz/
The University of Otago is New Zealand's first. Founded in 1869.