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July 2010 Archives
proudly new zealand hand drier wordage
well worth reading all this. i g'tee it.
proudly new zealand
dot matrix
i was delighted to see an actual working dot matrix printer jiggling and throwing itself about on the desk during a recent trip to a ten pin bowling alley. excellent stuff.
auckland international airport
my colleague simon sent me this from auckland international airport as he passed through on the way to london. he had some problem with a bottle of water. i'm not sure if this picture is related.
ceramic planters come on in
come on in ceramic planters
london street
half the word away but not forgotten
maritime house
nice bit of rusty 3D signage
royal memorabilia shop
a sign the empire lives on (at least in some peoples' minds)
lyttelton - do something beautiful
i'm not sure if this is telling us to do something beautiful, or suggesting that lyttelton was/is beautiful. i suspect it's a cry of desperation for the former
automatic sprinkler brigage inlet connection
another classic progrock album title ? automatic sprinkler brigage inlet connection
sorry nice people only
don't just be nice. be sorry
whatipu
whatipu is a lovely place to the west of auckland on the edge of the local rainforest
you have to pass huia on the way back which is lovely too
and its swirling esturaries at low tide are quite pretty
the sand is black like most of the west coast beaches due to volcanoes down the coast
here's a toilet
we went on a muddy walk which involved taking shoes off because it was so muddy. not bad for the equivalent of end of January northern hemisphere time
when we got to the caves we were searching for we couldn't go in as they were too dangerous. but there was an interesting looking toilet
a grand day out
black rebel motorcycle club
i went to see brmc with a work colleague last night.
they were excellent and plenty loud enough (concerts do seem to be a lot louder over here - probably to do with all the lovely clean air)
this last picture is a visual representation on the volume and feedback
real ale
and a real ale drinker
green toothbrushes
my wife has three green toothbrushes in her toothbrush pot. i'm sure there's a reason.
the word on the street
i didn't follow the clue as i was heading up the hill and i didn't want to walk down the hill as it would have involved walking back up the hill as my office is up the hill and along a bit.
newspaper hat
just like a newspaper gets thrown in the bin, so has this hat nearly gone the same way
jane's birthday presents
the lovely mrs funkypancake had a birthday today. the girls got her these lovely yellow bathroom products
and they also made some lovely cards. kezia went for a rather complicated motif
jane's friends got her this lovely ceramic wall thing
and i got her this savoury muffin. i didn't even need to take the price off because i got it free from a cafe which was shutting for the day
knowing this was not good enough i also got her a bath bomb which isn't an explosive. but it was really dusty and i inhaled a good mouthful as she opened it and i've not been quite right since.
birthdays hey.
prices so low
with prices so low, you have to wonder how much more they can take off
i had a nice spam email today from someone selling mannequins. Terrence (the mannequin sales men) said "All of our products are bottomly price for their excellent quality"
the opposite of a high light
someone had crashed their car in to this telegraph pole and knocked the light off. so some firemens had wrapped it round the trunk and put some tape on to keep us all safe. good on them.
couch reserved for mums feeding babies
i went to a church meeting for blokes and this was on the couch. i kept an eye out just in case, but no ladies came along to use it.
kiwi winter fashion (shorts)
it might be rather chilly but it doesn't stop the local wearing shorts
the biggest bar code what i have ever seen
if you've got the space, use it
my wife and i (hybrid)
having fun in a hands on science place in christchurch
puzzled
there's a really great shop in auckland (or rather two branches of the same shop) where you can go in and try all sorts of fantastic puzzles and games before you buy them. it's a bit like a games workshop type place where you can sit for hours and fiddle about without being hassled by the man.
except you will get 'hassled' by this man who is the owner and will do everything in his power to encourage you in your quest to expand your brain (in a non pressuring way)
it really is a rare treat and well worth a visit to either of the branches in Orewa or Devonport
read more here (shame about their website!)
biking on the beach
moving to new zealand has provided all sorts of fantastic opportunities which we wouldn't have had in blighty. like riding bikes on a wide open beach.
no wet or sandy bodies past this point please
i'm not sure how strictly this rule was policed.
a wheely bad idea
on the positive side, they can claim they have installed a wheelchair ramp.
on the negative side, if you manage to get to the top of the ramp you have to balance on one wheel to get along the stairs (and even then you can't get past the wall just to the left of where i stood to take the picture.
kea
a pesky kiwi bird botherer
starbucks logo makeover ?
did you miss the announcement about the new starbucks logo ? they've gone for something much simpler than the funny snake lady. just a cup of tea on a small spill of milk. nice.
thursday to friday
esther said 'why to and not and'. i say 'why to and not while'. blummin southerners
detailed information about the dog
this was in a shop window in akaroa when we visited last week. looks like someone is a little upset
crazy golf
kiwis do some particularly fine crazy / mini golf courses. they are everywhere. hoorah
time for a change ?
it's getting too tricky to update the blog at the moment due to technical issues at both my end and the server end, so i'm wondering whether i should retire the funkypancake blog.
it's all becoming too labour intensive to get the photos on to the blog, schedule then manually trigger the daily postings. the blogging platform i self host is falling apart due to my neglect and lack of expertise.
i'm happy to spend time updating the blog (as i have every day since april 2004) and i'll still continue to take mundane pictures. it's purely a technical work flow thing.
if you've got any thoughts on how i can do a photo blog in a more simple way (perhaps doing something with flickr where i already post duplicate photos ?) then let me know !
goodnight for now ...
dave
it's all becoming too labour intensive to get the photos on to the blog, schedule then manually trigger the daily postings. the blogging platform i self host is falling apart due to my neglect and lack of expertise.
i'm happy to spend time updating the blog (as i have every day since april 2004) and i'll still continue to take mundane pictures. it's purely a technical work flow thing.
if you've got any thoughts on how i can do a photo blog in a more simple way (perhaps doing something with flickr where i already post duplicate photos ?) then let me know !
goodnight for now ...
dave
two tuis in the garden
these two tuis were in our garden which was quite nice as they are lovely and kiwi-y.
it's really quite wild
how many 72 year olds do you know who say 'it's really quite wild' ?
a cold and frosty morning
whilst you guys in blighty enjoy your heat wave, it's all a bit chilly down here.
i'm not asking for sympathy. i'm just saying
and it's quite lovely seeing the local bush all covered in frostiness
new falling rocks sign
the small man is standing on the shoe of a very big man whose thumb has dropped off
demonstration predators
this was in a petting zoo as examples of predator animals which destroy the native animals
these chaps looked harmless enough covered in cobwebs
radiogram
this was outside a hairdressers shop
we have hot soup today
usually it's cold
180 angle parking
180 degree is back the other way isn't it ? hence the two ended arrow i suspect
demonstration cockroaches
museums love to shock when it comes to live cockroach displays. i thought i'd share this with you.
international chess - best description ever
inside have two colour chessman. Two persons can play together atthe same time and this playcan let you enjoy yourself.
translated from your original latin i think.
i got this from a secret santa at a midwinter christmas party last weekend. excellent stuff.
fun fun fun
the first fun is !!fun!!
the second fun is !fun! and slightly bigger
the final fun is just big fun.
simple as that.
recepticals
2 bins vs two post boxes. each with two variants. i applaud its symmetry
all the kebabs
not just some. all the kebabs.
domino
i've no idea how they make pizzas out of these, but they do.
the only one who turned up naked
it's like some bad dream
bag safety warnings
both of these scenarios are pretty harrowing
official exemption
no parking, except wah lee when in shop (i think i saw the film)
rain
there's a lot of it about.
do not hop in the pens
blatant disobedience by the cockerel here
but putting a prohibition on hopping was a bit unfair on the rabbits
so good on the birds for breaking rank and revealing the sign's stupidity
rainbow at long bay
new zealand is fab for rainbows
it's the classic combination of really heavy rain showers
which quickly pass through meaning there's a rain shower in the near distance
and nice strong bright sunlight
and hilly countryside so you get to see them properly from vantage points
jumping spider
we get some cool insects and spiders in the house. i'm both repelled and delighted by them. they're all harmless though. here's a little jumping spider. only a few millimetres long, but a whole heap of good fun.
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