23 posts from March 2009

Tues 31st Mar 09, 7.50am

If at least one of these facts doesn't make you go "woah!" like Keanu Reeves then perhaps the Internet is not for you.

Sun 29th Mar 09, 9.30pm

Went to see our newly married friends out in Masterton yesterday.  She's an actor/writer/dancer and general hobbit-sized tornado of energy.  He's a 6' 6" laid back occasional stand-up comedian and drive time DJ for More FM Wairarapa, one of a national chain of radio stations.  That makes him WAAY cool in my eyes, and I look up to him in more than height.  If there's a punchline available he (usually) gets to it before me.

We managed to get a guided tour of the studio, with brand new presenting booths worth a cool half million each (one live, one standby), plus a completely sound proofed room for recording those irritating ads.  They have a swish server room with a rack of servers that pull down all the music and adverts, and everything is timed to the second - all he needs to do is stop the playback on his computer to talk for a while, then press play and go for a swift smoko.

He's ridiculously underpaid and overworked -- that day he had been reporting from a sale at an electrical show in the morning, then heading off that evening to a local strip show to interview the women in the audience -- but hopefully it will lead to a better paid job in the near future.  Either that or Katrina the Singing Hobbit will have a starring role in kiwi soap Shortland Street.   One way or the other we hope to be able to point them out to people and say "we tended bar at their wedding".

One major upside to being a local DJ is that he can blag tickets for local events.  And it just so happens that kiwi heroes Flight of the Conchords are playing their only NZ gig this year in Masterton, a charity event for a friend of the band.  And they've not only blagged some tickets to see them, they got two extra just for us!  Engage Smug Mode.  I'm almost cool.

S5004604

Sun 29th Mar 09, 9.30pm

Thanks for the positive comments on the house, we really like it and I'm glad it came over nicely on my primitive digital camera video.  Strangely the one thing people kept asking about was Wor Lass' jigsaw!  I can now report she's finished it, as you can see below.   We've now bought her a little easel and painting-by-numbers style kit to get her creative juices flowing.

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Sun 29th Mar 09, 8pm

I have been mostly :-

• Banging my head against a brick wall dealing with Immigration.
• Reading "Oracle 11g for Dummies" on the commute.
• Realising my brain cannot process new information at 6.50am.
• Listening to the new Lily Allen CD.
• Trying to put a barbeque together with limited success.
• Being shown around a proper radio station (V cool!) by a proper DJ.
• Very smug after blagging highly sought-after tickets to see Flight of the Conchords on Tuesday!
• Viewing some LOTR props at Weta Cave, then watching Fellowship (yet again) with the DVD commentary.
• Dreaming I met Peter Jackson, but was worryingly in a wheelchair in the dream.

Thu 26th Mar 09, 8pm

We're currently going through the process of arranging Residency in New Zealand, to avoid the hassle of arranging visas and permits.   However, the whole process has been as much fun as sandpapering your nutsack.  With coarse grade sandpaper.  Then rubbing vinegar into the wound.  With a nettle.  You got the picture yet?

I've gathered a pile of paperwork for the submission: birth certificates, qualifications, references -- thank you Steve Norris & Tony Laughton! -- and lots more.  We've had medicals, chest X-rays, given blood samples.  Over $1,600 paid out so far.   Wor Lass even had two boob squeezings and an ultrasound scan, which is pointless really as I can describe her chesticals in minute detail ;-)

So I trotted off to Immigration on Monday afternoon to hand over the paperwork, only to find on arrival that they'd moved across town. Cue a frantic dash down Lambton Quay in uncomfortable shoes to beat the 3pm closing time.  Made it with minutes to spare, then took a number and sat for 15 minutes to request an audience at the Enquiries desk.

The non-smiling clerk scanned my paperwork and decided that Wor Lass' visitors visa would likely run out before processing is complete, and I'll need to pay for an extension.  Grumbling, I took the forms home and filled them in, attached more photos.

Second trip to non-smiling woman Tuesday and another 15 minute wait with tatty numbered laminate later she tells me I need to get a Justice of the Peace or solicitor to verify that we have a valid partnership.  AAARGH!  Despite 3 work visas together and lots of paperwork in joint names, we have to go and pay a frickin' legal bod to sign a piece of paper.

So today I've found a local solicitors and got him to sign it, promising on scouts honour that I've not told any porkies.

Tomorrow I need to go back to Immigration and see Happy Crack again and hope they don't pick any more holes in my forms.  Then I can hand over another $110 to extend Wor Lass' visa for the few weeks it will take to process the application.   I also need to hand over $1,400 for them to review my application and decide whether I deserve to stay or not, and if they DO decide to let us in it's another $600 "migrant levy".

It would just be a lot easier if I could show them how much pigging tax I'm paying!

At least if New Zealand don't think I'm good enough (and it's not a given, especially since they announced today they're cracking down on visa numbers) at least I can have a crack at getting a visa for Vogon.  Apparently there's a big bypass project starting soon ...

Now if you'll excuse me I have to go pick some nettles.

Thu 26th Mar 09, 8pm

Trailer for a new Japanese film coming soon which is quite bizarre but very well animated.  Basically it's a mashup of a gritty war movie with Watership Down.   Extra points to the film makers for the tagline "Apocolypse Miaow".   One for The Legendary Phil Hall I feel, even if Hello Kitty doesn't get disembowelled at any point.

Mon 23rd Mar 09, 2.30pm

Got the first pictures through of my little nephew, JJ.  Sis looks shattered, poor lass, and I suspect sleep is out of the window for the next few weeks/months/years.  BTW that's a very large chair she's sat in, she's not a hobbit or anything.

Nephew

Sat 20th Mar 09, 2.10pm

Funny clip found on Viral Video Network.

Sat 21 Mar 09, 2pm

I have been mostly :-

• Delighted that my little Sis has produced a gorgeous, healthy son (pics soon hopefully).
  
• Picking Wor Lass up off the floor after a suspected shoe malfunction.
• Converting a litre of water into snot every hour.
• Getting prodded and poked as part of the NZ residency process.
• Learning about Oracle as we gear up for a big project.
• Starting work at 7.15am and having breakfast at my desk.
• Listening to School Me!, a funky collection of 50's & 60's US college band recordings.
• Finishing the book "Peter Jackson: A Film Maker's Journey".
• Jealous that my friend Chris Thorpe is tearing up LA on his way here.
• Sizing up a local gym with a view to launching a fresh assault on the waistline.
  

Friday 20th Mar 09, 9.15am

Heartwarming almost-silent short film that's well worth sticking with.