Barli Bram's Blog

Victoria University of Wellington: Uni in Windy City

2008-10-05T08:58:00.020+07:00

One of the several universities in New Zealand is Victoria University of Wellington -- VUW, which was founded in 1897 and named after England's Queen Victoria.

Victoria Uni has seven Faculties: Architecture and Design, Humanities and Social Sciences, Law, Science, Engineering, Education, and Commerce and Administration.

The main campus is located on Kelburn Parade (please see the pictures included here). The other three campuses are in Karori (Education Faculty) and in the city centre (Commerce and Administration Faculty, and Architecture and Design Faculty).

Currently (in 2008) there are approximately 17,500 students studying various fields at VUW, a university in a windy city. The speed of wind in Wellington quite often reaches over 100 km per (Some say it's good for sailing or flying a kite.)

Pictures (from top to bottom):
1. Three very friendly plus helpful Kiwi students of VUW

2. A bilingual VUW logo on a campus wall: in Maori and English

3. VUW campus on Kelburn Parade/KP: Two of some main buildings, Kirk Building (white and brownish) and Von Zedlitz Building (reddish)

4. Map of VUW Kelburn campus

5. A VUW Kelburn campus corner

6. Students walking down KP

Summer in Wellington, NZ

2007-12-14T18:52:00.000+07:00

Surely summer, which lasts from December to February, always brings lots of fun for New Zealanders or Kiwis in general, and for Wellingtonians in particular. It is the best time to enjoy a long holiday as well as a short break by getting involved in all kinds of outdoor activities. To many Kiwis, particularly Pakeha (Maori word for 'White New Zealanders'), summer might also mean a picnic.

The following pictures all taken in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, try to capture or present some of the activities which Pakeha in Wellington enjoy doing in summer, a season with lots of warm, sunny days.

What's going on in this picture? Well, having a picnic while enjoying live music performances by local musicians at Wellington Botanic Garden.

Like the first picture, this one also captures an outdoor picnic with a smaller group. It looks like a family picnic, doesn't it? The location is behind Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand.

How about here? Two senior or elderly citizens are enjoying themselves - drinking beer, wine, reading a magazine somewhere at Wellington Botanic Garden.

Next, this picture shows Wellingtonians dining outdoors plus having beer at Mac's Brewery, which is near Wellington Harbour (Waterfront).

Finally ... this statue, which is situated on Lambton Quay, one of the main streets in the capital city, shows a man is walking (with) his energetic, excited dog. Walking a dog or taking a dog to a picnic is also common (in summer). In general, Pakeha or Kiwis of European descent, consider a dog as a family member. (to be published in Dialogue mag)

** BB

Webpage plus Gadget

2007-10-27T11:26:00.000+07:00

The era of information and technology or IT for short has now influenced many of our daily activities. For example, we send and receive text messages using mobile phones, communicate with others via emails, share stories with friends through blogs, and read electronic newspapers, listen to the online radio and watch television on the Internet. Certainly many of us agree that IT is a powerful tool in this modern world.

Let's talk about further here two kinds of useful plus practical IT, namely: a webpage and gadget. What is a webpage? It may be defined as "a resource of information that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser" (Wikipedia). And what is a gadget? Well, it may refer to "a device or an appliance that has a useful specific practical purpose and function" (Wikipedia). Other names for a webpage are a website and homepage, and (sometimes) a gadget is also called a widget.

A challenging question to ask is: How can we build and/or create our own webpage and gadget? One possible straight answer is to make the best use of the user-friendly, free of charge Google Page Creator. (For most of us, it is easier to build a webpage than developing a gadget, I guess.)

** BB

Bloc Party

2007-06-30T21:08:00.000+07:00

Let's welcome this time a British band called Bloc Party. More precisely, the band comes from East London. The name Bloc Party has been used since September 2003. Previously it was known under various names like Superheroes of BMX, The Angel Range, Diet, and Union.

The current members consist of Kele Okereke (Vocals/Guitar),
Russell Lissack (Guitar), Gordon Moakes (Bass), and Matt Tong (Drums). Former members of the band include David Searston, Mat Coleman, and James Chorley. Some say that Bloc Party has been influenced by The Cure, Gang of Four, and The Smashing Pumpkins, to mention three examples.

To get more info about the band, why not try visiting http://www.blocparty.com? One of their popular songs is called I Still Remember from the album A Weekend in the City. Interested in the words of the song? Not a big deal! We've got them right here. (Perhaps, it would a good idea, too, to access www.youtube.com, and then enter the key words, for instance, bloc party I still remember, to listen to the song and watch the video.)

I still remember
By Bloc Party

I, I still remember
how you looked that afternoon.
There was only you.

You said "it's just like a full moon".
Blood beats faster in our veins
We left our trousers by the canal
And our fingers, they almost touched

You should have asked me for it
I would have been brave
You should have asked me for it
How could I say no?

And our love could have soared
Over playgrounds and rooftops
Every park bench screams your name
I kept your tie

I've gone wherever you wanted

(I still remember)

And on that teachers' training day
We wrote our names on every train
Laughed at the people off to work
So monochrome and so lukewarm

And I can see our days are becoming nights.
I could feel your heartbeat across the grass.
We should have run.
I would go with you anywhere.
I should have kissed you by the water

You should have asked me for it
I would have been brave
You should have asked me for it
How could I say no?

And our love could have soared
Over playgrounds and rooftops
Every park bench screams your name
I kept your tie

I would let you if you asked me

I still remember

** BB
From various online sources
All pictures also retrieved online

Wellington Zoo

2007-05-31T16:30:00.000+07:00

Historically, Wellington Zoo, which was founded in 1906, is New Zealand's oldest zoo. Its very first animal was a young lion. It is said that the zoo is "committed to a future in conservation education by bringing animals and people closer together".

According the zoo website, as at April 4, 2006, the zoo has 501 animals consisting of 105 species. There are no snakes because the government does not allow snakes to be imported (they might escape and become predators). The zoo does not have elephants or crocodiles, either. Wellington Zoo is hilly and too small for a group of five to six elephants. It is said that elephants prefer to walk on flat ground and live socially. How about crocodiles and alligators? Unfortunately, we can't find them there. The climate in Wellington is too cold for the cold-blooded creatures.

The most striking thing about Wellington Zoo is that it has only one kiwi, which has one leg. One of the legs was amputated because it was destroyed by a trap many years ago. (Note: Thanks a lot to an anonymous comment: "Actually, there are four kiwis at the Wellington Zoo. ..." When I went there, I saw the one-legged kiwi only, shown in a kind of a dimly-lighted room; the other three were then kept somewhere else.)

** BB
From various online sources

OpShop: NZ Band

2007-04-22T09:04:00.000+07:00

Here comes another NZ band called OpShop. Linguistically or to be more specific, morphologically, OpShop is an example of blending or simply blend, which is a minor word formation process. Originally it derives from two words: opportunity and shop. In New Zealand, the slang word "opshop" may mean "a shop selling cheap, used goods".

OpShop is a rock band formed in 2002, and consists of Jason Kerrison (vocals), Matt Treacy (guitar), Tim Skedden (guitar), Bobby Kennedy (drums), and Ian Munro (bass). Maybe, whose complete lyrics will be presented below, is the band's hit song.

Maybe
by Opshop

So what's this big secret you can't tell me
I don't wanna piece of this

Haven't we all had enough
Enough for one day
I don't wanna argue with you
You've got me shiverin' in my spine

[Chorus]
If everything turned out as we had said
We wouldn't have to sit through any of this
Maybe I would be a better fit in my own skin

I'm not gonna try to divide or ignore you
And the pieces of the puzzle that never seem to fit

I'm not playin' hangman with you
I've run out of letters, let alone words
You've got me shiverin' in my spine

If everything turned out as we had said
We wouldn't have to sit here talkin' like this
Maybe I would be a better fit in my own skin
Maybe

If everything turned out as we had planned
We wouldn't have to go through any of this
Maybe it'll be more simple than you could ever think

So stay right where you are
We're snoozin' through an alarm
Make no sudden movements
Just tell me where we are
‘Cause here I am
There you are
Snoozin' through an alarm
Snoozin' through an alarm

If everything turned out as we had said
We wouldn't have to go through any of this
Maybe

[Repeat 3X]
Maybe… (oh…)
Maybe… (oh…)
Maybe… (oh…)
Oh…

[Music to End]

** BB
From various online sources
Picture source: www.muzic.net.nz/artists/1159.html

Wellington: Windy Plus Full of Cables

2007-03-31T18:06:00.000+07:00

A nice place near Wellington Harbour

Taking a walk on Oriental Bay

A street called The Terrace

Like most of us, the capital city of New Zealand also has a 'nickname'. Guess what? Well, a windy city is the answer. During Winter, around July up to September, and Spring, around January until March, the winds in the city frequently blow more than 100 kilometres per hour. It has also been reported that the strongest Wellington winds reached 170 kilometres per hour.

Another striking thing about the capital city of New Zealand is that it is full of cables. "How come?" some of us might wonder. The reason is obvious for those who have visited and walked round the city; A lot of cables hang above most major streets such as Victoria Street, Willis Street, Wakefield Street, Taranaki Street, Lambton Quay and Courtenay Place. What is the function of the cables? Well, they power Wellington city buses. (Perhaps one day 'cable-less buses' might be produced, and thus we will no longer need any cables to run city buses.)

Wellington is a compact -- a small city. We can walk from one side to the other in about 30 minutes. The city has a very beautiful harbour and a lot of trees and hills. There are four main quarters or popular locations, namely: Courtenay quarter, Cuba quarter, Lambton quarter, and Waterfront quarter. It is said that the city has about 400 cafes and restaurants. Wellington is home to the Royal NZ Ballet, the NZ Symphony Orchestra, and New Zealand heritage, including Te Papa, the national museum, where the recently-caught colossal squid weighing around 500 kilogrammes will be displayed starting sometime 2008.

** BB
From various sources

NZ Band: Welcome to "Real Life"

2007-02-01T05:48:00.000+07:00

Evermore, a band consisting of three brothers, was formed in Feilding, a relaxing, beautiful, small town without any traffic lights in New Zealand. Now the band is based in Sydney, Australia, the country where the oldest brother, Jon Hume was born. It is said that Evermore has been influenced, among others, by The Who, Led Zeppelin and U2. So far, the band has released a number of albums, and its hits are Light Surrounding You, Running, Morning Star, Unbreakable, and Real Life, to list a few examples. The musicians of Evermore are Jon Hume (vocals, guitar), Peter Hume (bass, keyboard, guitar), and Dann Hume (drums, vocals).

Most of us, I believe, will agree with Evermore that life is real. It is important then for us to always remember to be realistic, to wisely face our daily realities which might sometimes be unpleasant. Let's find out what Evermore says about life, which is real.

Real Life

By Evermore

Welcome to the real life
Welcome to the real life
I've come to realize it's no game
No one is the same
There's so much more to life
Than meets the eye

At night I just can't sleep
The mornings come too soon
My head is swimming in
The mess around this room
Voices in the street
I hear them telling me

Welcome to the real life
Open up your eyes
Listen to the words they're saying
The chords are changing
So take off your disguise and step out of the night

Sometimes just can't think
I can't think what to do
The noise is deafening
And I can't get through to you
Voices in the street
I hear them asking me

What are we coming to?
Why are the reasons so few?
What are we coming to?
What does it mean to you?
After all we've been through
It all comes down to you
It all comes down to you

Welcome to the real life

Note: To listen to some of the band's popular songs for free, please try to visit www.evermoreband.com (and, if necessary, click 'join community', and then 'launch audio player'.) Once we have succeeded in accessing the band's homepage, the song Light Surrounding You will in fact play automatically. Well, why not check it out? (The songs on the website are accessible when this article is being written for publication.)

** BB

From various Internet sources

Pic of Evermore: from Internet

2007-01-22T09:04:00.000+07:00

Harvard Square

Despite 14 street lamps on seven green posts standing like ushers at a party and another eight on two black posts, each about 10 meters tall, in the middle, Harvard Square, which is, in fact, shaped like a triangle, did not appear a bright, warm spot on Sunday, November 5, 2000. At a close look, only nine out of the 22 lamps did their job: shining. Nearby a red digital timer showed 17:10 but it was already dark and cold as the rain kept falling down.

Under a roof of a four-story building flanked by the world famous Harvard University Co-op book store, now run by Barnes and Noble, and Fleet bank, a 62-year-old woman was standing beside her fully-loaded pushcart, drinking a cup of hot coffee and eating a bar of chocolate with her trembling hands. “My name’s Nelly Newton,” said the woman who tried several times but failed to recall her husband’s last name. “What’s Joe’s last name?” she asked herself.

Born in Massachusetts (but she didn’t want to mention a specific place) in 1938, Newton said, “A lot of times I sleep here.” Not too cold? “Sometimes it is,” she said, “But I have pretty good provisions.”

About her pushcart covered by a white and red checkered cloth, Newton, who was about 157 cm tall and wore a red coat, a brownish scarf, and brown shoes, said, “I have things to clean with, things to wear, and things that I take, either, you know, soda to drink or coffee. And I take medicine, too.”

At Harvard Square, Newton at times sang for an hour or two for donated coins and dollars, though she said she wasn’t a professional. “I just do it to make my ways sometimes.” She sang anything her father taught her, she said. “He had a book. He played the piano and he sang, too.”

Newton expected nothing from people watching her performance but if they gave her a donation she was happy, she said. “But sometimes I try to do something for the community, like singing at the square.”

Commenting on what she performed, Newton said she didn’t enjoy herself very much and wanted to do other things. Singing wasn’t too bad, but she was an amateur. What were the other things she would like to do? “Oh, I don’t know … I like to do more quiet things, such as, sleep and rest,” said Newton.

As the rain kept falling down, Newton sat on the floor under the roof and waited to perform. Her lips moved up and down as she hummed to herself, as if she were a faith-healer reciting magic words. Right behind her were two pairs of blue and green glass doors, and above the doors read a warning: No Trespassing. Private Property, which Newton ignored. It was the only place facing Harvard Square that had a roomy space under a roof.

“I can’t read,” said Billy Ecarlo, 56, of Cambridge, who would repeat ‘Spare change, please’ right at the entrance of Fleet Bank. “I can only write my name and that’s okay for me.” Ecarlo proved it by writing down his full name in capital letters on a piece of white paper. To fight against the cold weather, Ecarlo wore a dark blue coat which his eldest sister, Mary Ecarlo, gave him. “I only finished the kindergarten … St. Peter’s at Cambridge,” Ecarlo said.

Ecarlo said he had no regular job, “I can’t handle heavy manual work because my back hurts. I’ve been hit by cars three times, and they broke my back.” He said he asked for money to buy food and drinks.

Sometimes people would tease or mug him, Ecarlo said. “When I bought a candy at Nini’s Corner the other day, the clerk there shouted at him ‘Hey Stupid, wanna buy what?” He said other people at the store heard that and he responded, “Hey man, listen! I’m not as stupid as you think.” He paid for the candy and headed for the door, Ecarlo said.

Meeting different people was the reason for Christopher Louis, 22, of Roxbury fan, Ma, for frequenting Harvard Square by himself. “I have no friend who likes coming here with me, so here I’m all alone. I like meeting foreign people though we seldom talk to one another,” Louis said. “It’s not easy to start a conversation. But I know they’re foreigners from their faces, and sometimes from their hair.” He said he liked street singers performing at the square. Since that day there was no show due to the rain, he spent about 15 minutes for his visit. “It’s pretty cold,” Louis said “and I feel like smoking a cigar.” Holding a folded one-dollar bill, Louis braved the rain to get himself a 75-cent cigar at Nini’s Corner, headed for the subway under the square, and disappeared.

After awhile, a middle-aged man in a blue jacket was staggering. He smelled of alcohol; his left brown trouser was completely wet. While making various hand movements and mumbling under the building roof and in the rain, the man drew no attention from passers-by as if they smelled, saw or heard nothing. To and fro he kept staggering as others’ business ran on.

In a red pullover, a man, also a middle-aged, examined the two black iron rubbish bins in front of the Fleet bank and of the Harvard Co-Op book store. In his pushcart he had already about 20 empty plastic bottles and cans. Finding nothing he wanted, the man approached the crossing in front of the store, looked up at the light, waited for it to turn red, and then pushed his cart across to continue his search in other rubbish bins around the square.

Harvard Square is situated between John F. Kennedy street and Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Ma. It is more like a triangle measuring about 450 meters square; at the tip stands Omphalos 1985, a sculpture by Dimitri Hadzl. There are 10 black rubbish cans made of iron. To cater phone services, the square provides nine coin booths forming a line along Mass. Avenue. Close to the phones, four trees still breathe silently though none of them has a single leaf.

In the square, three different structures stand out. Near the sculpture is a reading-material kiosk, called Harvard Square, facing west. To the left of the kiosk a glass structure faces west has a sign: Harvard. To Buses and Subway. In front of this sub-station is an elevator facility in a round structure.

An open space right behind the station plays a double function: a stage for street performers and a get-together spot for young people. In wet weather like on Sunday, November 5, the space went solitary; it invited no singer or gatherer.

Despite the cold and dark situation on that Sunday, Harvard Square normally attracts visitors. On the back side of a postcard photographed by Robert Tobin, the note says, “Students from all over the world meet in Historic Harvard Square (the nation’s oldest) buildings and gate are located on this square as is the site of the ‘The Washington Elm’ where George Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775.”

According to the Cambridge Police Department Crime (CPD) Report for the second quarter (January 1 – June 30, 2000), Harvard Square area is bordered by Waterhouse Street, Garden Street, Mason Street, Ash Street, the Charles River, Flagg Street, Putnam Avenue, and Massachusetts Avenue. And its major areas of business include, among others, establishments and business offices on Massachusetts Avenue between 1050 and 1540, the numerous restaurants, shops, offices on Holyoke, Dunster, and Winthrop Streets, as well as, the Charles Square and University Place complexes.

How safe is Harvard Square? The Crime Analysis Division of the CPD reported that “during the first two quarters commercial robberies involved note-passers at local banks in February. One of the suspects was subsequently arrested by the FBI’s Bank Robbery Task Force and was linked to several similar crimes in the Greater Boston area.

The Crime Analysis Division also said, “Commercial burglary is recording dramatic decreases in Harvard Square. With only four burglaries reported over the first six months of the year, this year’s sixty-nine percent decline piggybacks 1999’s twenty-two percent drop.”

Among the six crime categories (larceny from building, larceny from person, commercial burglary, commercial robbery, shoplifting, and fraud/flim flam/counterfeiting), larceny from person still topped the Crime Analysis list, with 52 cases reported. The police reported, “Despite the fact that larceny from the person declined thirteen percent, the professional pickpocket remains a concern with over 100 incidents annually.”

In the rain and cold, the police kept watching. On that Sunday one of them in a raincoat stood in front of Nini’s Corner opposite the square. When approached and asked if he saw something eye-catching, the officer replied, “Nothing.”

(Note: Harvard Square is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.)

The end

Kiwi Christmas

2007-01-21T06:19:00.000+07:00

One day in October (2006), a female voice on a local radio in Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, exclaimed enthusiastically something like this: "Book a place for your Christmas party now! It's not too far off ..." Yes, Christmas Day, December 25, is now approaching.

Some of us might be wondering how New Zealanders or Kiwis in general celebrate the joyful occasion. Like in many other places throughout the world, particularly in Western countries, a lot of people in NZ have parties and share gifts on Christmas Day. Some also go to the beach because it is summertime, not wintertime like in Europe and many parts of the US. So, there is no white Christmas in NZ.

As the radio advertisement above has tried to persuade listeners to secure a place for a party, business people in shopping centres also come up with various strategies for attracting customers to spend more money on clothes, shoes, beverages and food, for example. Certainly, NZ Christians hold a special service to welcome the birth of their Saviour, Jesus Christ.

To find out more about NZ Christmas, let's refer to the below folk song composed by Rosy Parsons in 1999.

Christmas in New Zealand

As Christmas comes around again in our own land
It's time to be together, take each other's hand
A chance to share the good times in the summer sun
Another family holiday's begun
Chorus

It's Christmas in New Zealand and the time is right
For saying "I Love You," watching stars at night
For barbecues and swimming out across the bay
How lovely to spend Christmas in the Kiwi way
There won't be any snow to make the land look white
The sun won't set down south 'til after 9 at night
You won't be needing furs or woolly hats and gloves
It's time for outdoor living in the land we love
Repeat Chorus

Bridge
Leave your work behind and have your holiday
And try to keep things simple on your Christmas Day
It's such a special time for having friends and family near
Another Kiwi Christmas time is here
Repeat Chorus

** BB
From various online sources
Card credit: Wishing you a Kiwi Christmas! ©newzealand.co.nz
[This writing was published by DIALOGUE magazine.]