Entrance Gate

I checked up on this blog this morning, to discover, to my dismay, that I have been a very lazy blogger this year, with August 2015 a very threadbare posting period. Let's try and rectify that, I thought to myself.  

So, what can I write about? What is a blog? Essentially, a blog is web-based page consisting of informal writing,published on an ongoing basis,with the newest (latest) posts appearing first -- the reverse of a written book. And the subject matter? Well, anything goes, apparently. This blog does not cater for the commercial aspects -- I'm not trying to sell any goods or services, and I do not earn revenue from reader traffic. 

Rather I waffle. Mostly. Mainly about this and that, a sort of personal-public diary of my experiences, or events which I find interesting. 

Mmmm. What is interesting at the moment? Mmmm. 

What about opinions and expectations about upcoming World Cup Rugby? Too many arguments there, and probably few who are actually interested. Anyway, like it or not, my prediction for the final:  All Blacks 32 - Opponents 26

Oh! Oh! Oh! What about the flag? Mmmm.

I know it's too early...I know you want to retain the current flag... 

But... The Flag Panel has reviewed all 10,292 suggested flag designs and announced an official long list of 40 flag designs. The designs included in the long list will go forward for further investigation as part of the official design review process. In mid-September, the Panel will announce the 4 alternatives which will be ranked in the first binding referendum.

Although I can hear the "Looks-like-pirates" objections being shouted from the rooftops, after giving quite a bit of serious thought to the matter, both my flags are pirate-based:

I am impressed by the "Seven Stars of Matariki" designed by Matthew Clare as my first choice

And the next one, although it excludes the Maori interest, I find nevertheless interesting, is called the Southern Cross Horizon, by Sven Baker, as below:

My prediction? I suspect that, after the panel stuff and the selection and voting, the current flag will be retained after all.

"But," you comment, "I really don't care," and you ask,"Why the 'Gate' title to the blog?"

Aha. That's the personal-public diary bit. You see.

We live in Kents Road. Which is rural. A narrow country road (lane, probably, by the British definition),with no sidewalk, pavement, kerb or formal gutters. But, part of the extended family includes two large Labradors, who have never really been exposed to playing in the traffic. So, an entrance gate at the end of the driveway is a necessity. And we have just received delivery of the new wooden gate from the Gate Guy  -- he's not really called the 'Gate Guy', but he is the 'gate' equivalent of 'The Pool Guy.' If that makes any sense.

This is thus the first diary entry for gate matters. There will probably be two more in the near future, just to document our progress.

The two half-gates stacked on a pallet on the lawn, awaiting arrival of the installation guys.

Some of the 11 panels for the post-cladding of the same Macrocarpa wood as the gates,
which are being coated with the Cabot's decking oil.

The workmen are scheduled to arrive early next week to attend to the installation of the gate. Until then.

The Movies

You know you're getting old when your grand-children cannot understand what you're going to do when you announce,"We're going to the bioscope!" 

"Bioscope? Huh? Is that the procedure where the doctor shove a pipe with a go-pro camera into your insides to look at your tummy?" was about the closest explanation they could think of.

This made me think about the "official" explanation, rather than the medical rendition:  A Bioscope show was a music hall and fairground attraction consisting of a travelling cinema. The heyday of the Bioscope was from the late 1890's until World War I. Bioscope shows were fronted by the largest fairground organs, and these formed the entire public face of the show. A stage was usually in front of the organ, and dancing girls would entertain the crowds between film shows. Films shown in the Bioscope were primitive, and the earliest of these were made by the showmen themselves. Later, films were commercially produced.

During my childhood, the so-called "cinema" was still known as a "bioscope", and the ones in the larger cities with usherette/waitresses serving light refreshment old drinks and teas were "tea-room biscopes" featuring looping films. You would simply walk in while the film was being shown, sit down and place your refreshment order and pay for it including your admission fee to a roving  waitress. We didn't live near any big city, so I probably only went to such a tea-room about three or four times.  It was only in my teenage years that I could go to a "bioscope"-- I only remember one -- which had a South African undertone about life in some fishing village somewhere. Hmmm.
Oh yes, and that 1959 epic,"One man's fight, against the might,of Imperial Rome!"

One Man's fight against the might of Imperial Rome - Charlton Heston as Ben-Hur

In later life:  I have to admit that you can probably count the number of movies I've seen in the last 20 years and my fingers. I suppose I've never been much of a movie addict -- I guess its a bit of my old concentration/ attention span problem, the same one which blocks the reading of books. Give me an  interesting documentary or biography, then I'm all eyes and ears.

In the last month, I've been to the movies twice, would you believe?

The movies themselves are not significant in themselves. "Holmes" is the tale of Sherlock himself, to wit: an ageing Holmes returns from a journey to Japan in search of a rare plant which should counteract the effects of aging, especially a failing memory. He tries to give attention to the unsolved case which ended his career. Hmmm.

And then "Far from the madding crowd." I remember that we had a copy of it on the bookshelves, but I cannot remember ever having even tried reading the introduction, let alone Thomas Hardy's fine words.  Shame on me.Mmmm.

But its not the novelty of the act of going to bioscope the movies, but rather the venue where we saw the movies: The Shoreline in Waikanae.

  

The Shorline is what I would call a "boutique bioscope" with huge comfortable sofas and plenty of cushions,justthe berries for a lazy slouch like me -- I'm really a professional slouch on a couch!