Quote of the Day

Abstract art? A product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered.
- Al Capp

Quote of the Day

Today I'm off to Alaska with Albie & Court...

I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.
- Mark Twain

Quote of the Day

I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.
- George Burns

Quote of the Day

America's abundance was not created by public sacrifices to the common good, but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes.
- Ayn Rand

Quote of the Day

The total absence of humor in the Bible is one of the most singular things in all literature.
- Alfred North Whitehead

Quote of the Day

Youth is a wonderful thing. What a crime to waste it on children.
- George Bernard Shaw

Quote of the Day

He who trains his tongue to quote the learned sages, will be known far and wide as a smart ass.
- Howard Kandel

Quote of the Day

The fellow who thinks he knows it all is especially annoying to those of us who do.
- Harold Coffin

Quote of the Day

Nobody is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart; for his purity, by definition, is unassailable.
- James Arthur Baldwin

Quote of the Day

In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.
- Albert Einstein

Quote of the Day

The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn...and change.
- Carl Rogers

Quote of the Day

There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to inculcate it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity.
- Arthur Schopenhauer

Quote of the Day

The harder I work, the luckier I get.
- Sam Goldwyn

Quote of the Day

Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease.
- Jimmy Carter

Quote of the Day

A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbors.
- William R. Inge

Quote of the Day

(I have FOUR FIVE planes to catch in 24 hours)

I feel about airplanes the way I feel about diets. It seems to me that they are wonderful things for other people to go on.
- Jean Kerr

Quote of the Day

I like long walks. Especially when they're taken by people who annoy me.
- Noel Coward

Last drive in NZ

Drove from Wellington up to Auckland again on Tuesday and took these pictures on the way. It is a very pleasant drive scenerywise, if the roads leave something to be desired. Quite a lot actually.

You'd think an otherwise advanced nation like New Zealand would be able to make a single, straight motorway between its capital and its by far biggest city, but no. In some areas you're looking at a four lane motorway, just as nature and nature's God intended.

In other areas you're going through three traffic circles in a row, or navigating the centre of some bumfuck little town, or you're stuck in traffic in a larger city. The road twists and turns and takes off from the straight "main road" several times.

How the kiwis stand for this, I do not know. I was ready to climb a church tower with an AK-47 several times, but as it were I had to settle for cursing out other drivers from the safety of my seat, while putting the pedal to the metal wherever I could. (Note to the NZ police: this sentence is for entertainment purpose only, and should not in any way be construed to make a civil case against me or deport me to Stewart Island or whatever your version of Gitmo may be.)

Not the ocean, but a huge lake called Lake Taupo. It is bigger than anything you'll find in Australia.




Looks a bit like Rohan, doesn't it? Some natural park right next to a military shooting range. Der be snow on dem dar mountain tops.

Quote of the Day

I promise to keep on living as though I expected to live forever. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up wrinkles the soul.
- Douglas MacArthur

A splendid day in pouring rain

Monday has been spent largely in a state of euphoria at seeing lots of places connected with LOTR. Sunday I decided to splurge, and called up Wellington Rover, a company whose brochure was at my hotel, and booked a full day tour with them. That was a lucky stroke. Since it was raining, only ONE other person joined it (besides the guide) so we were a small, exclusive group of nerds, and we got along very well. The other tourist was a Dutch girl with an infectious laughter, and the guide was a brilliant guy named Jack and we ended up talking about lots of other stuff, too.

We learned a lot of new stuff about the movies. For example, as often as not it's not actually Liv Tyler or Ian McKellen or Orlando Bloom you'll see in the LOTR movies, but their stunt doubles. You see, none of the three could ride horses. Unlike Viggo Mortensen, who grew up around horses and even bought the one he rode in the movie at an auction after the filming was done. He even bought another horse for Tyler's stunt woman, who he had become good friends with. Nice to know people with silly money, that's all I have to say.

We also heard lots of details about this and that, half of which I've probably forgotten already, but the level of manipulation and trickery in LOTR impresses me more and more. Also, the lengths they will go to for only a couple of seconds of film, and the incredible attention to detail that Peter Jackson shows throughout, stuff that I haven't come close to noticing when I've seen them, but which a hardcore fan may notice on his 25th showing.

In addition to the locations, we also had a stop at Weta Workshop, where they made all the special effects; everything from prosthetics to make up to digital stuff for the movies. They show a splendid little introductory movie, then you can walk around their store until you bleed from your wallet. I'll probably wake up screaming tonight, after spending 579 Kiwi dollars on this...

Anyways, I highly recommend you take the Rover tour iffin you're ever in Wellington, and for fuck's sake book the full day tour, don't be stingy! You'll have the time of your life, and don't let a little rain put you off.

All LOTR tour pics here.

My precioussssss! I was really done buying when Jack checked his iphone and discovered that a signed book with a drawing of Gandalf in it was still on sale in the store. So I got in and snapped it, I'd like to think right in front of hordes of weeping and wailing LOTR fans. It's apparently made by a very famous illustrator, John Howe. I'd never heard of him, but I still got the book, so neener neener.


Two orcs.


Weta has been involved in a shitload of famous movies, one of the latest was Tintin. They've also made special effects for Xena, King Kong and Avatar, to name a few.


The Great River Anduin.


I was very happy with this shot; the sun shining through the clouds over Rivendell.


Here I'm standing in the spot where they had the balcony at Rivendell. It was done with bluescreen and digital imagery... and some fake bushes and trees.


Some lovely rainforest at Rivendell. This, incidentally, is where they made a fake waterfall and shot the scene where Arwen and Aragorn smooch and Arwen gives up her immortality.


This lovely park is where they shot Isengaard. They brought in their own trees, which were constructed so that they could be raised up again as soon as they were torn down. So what you see in the movies are the same few trees from different angles, being torn down over and over. Also, Peter Jackson and his team always cleaned up after themselves; Jackson's a native and still owns a house in Wellington, so he's interested in preserving the natural beauty of New Zealand.


This is the quarry where they shot Helm's Deep and later Minas Tirith. All done with miniatures and perspective and just a little bit of digital stuff.


The place where they shot the scene where the Hobbits first encounter the Nazgul. "Get off the road!"


Milka from the Netherlands and yours truly illustrate what you can get done with just a simple change of perspective. This is how they filmed the scenes with Gandalf and Bilbo in the first film, there's NO digital imagery involved.


This is the hole where the Hobbits hid. They brought in a tree with big roots so the Hobbits could hide from a horse that was filmed far away and appears through blue screen technology. I get dizzy just thinking about it.


My loot from Weta's store. My preciousssss.

Quote of the Day

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
- JRR Tolkien

America on NZ

The architecture in New Zealand, at least the rural parts, remind me of that in Australia, meaning that it is more American than British. Along National Route 1 down to Wellington, I came across this diner, which advertized itself as an "American Diner". It had a large US flag waving out front and the interior was tastefully designed in classic Americana. Even though I was still full from my huge breakfast, I had me a very tasty milkshake.

Have a look at the place...

Sweet, sweet American cultural imperialism.






The menu had many American sounding items.

The mountain

In my post from New Plymouth yesterday, I promised you pictures of the very lovely volcano/mountain just behind the city. Well, I fucked up. It was visible Saturday afternoon, but during the night evil, evil clouds came and covered it up. I drove up to the visitor center, but the lady in the cozy little cafeteria said she thought it wouldn't clear for a couple of days. So instead I had a huge breakfast there and then drove down to Wellington.

Eggs? Check. Bacon? Check. Sausage? Check. Beans? Check. Toast? Check. Tomatoes? Check. Mushrooms? Check. Cardiac arrest? Coming soon to an ER near you.


For dessert I had a mountaineer cake. Pineapple, banana & walnut. Heaven.


Mount Taranaki/Egmont, for the moment shrouded in fog. Sigh.

Quote of the Day

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
- JRR Tolkien

New Plymouth

New Plymouth is a town on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island. It has a long beach promenade (I've seen the number "10 km" bandied about) and a crazy pictoresque volcanic mountain behind it, which I hope to get some pics of Sunday (it was shrouded in clouds today).

As I drove into town to hunt down some dinner I happened to go down by the harbor and in a moment of clarity I saw one of the most stunning sunsets I've ever seen; the sun and clouds were really playing together on this one. I stopped the car, got out my camera and fired away. Five minutes later the clouds had decided they wanted all the fun for themselves, and the sun was hurrying off to an appointment on the east coast of Australia.

All pics here.

Shoooo purdy.




"For though the tired waves, vainly breaking..."

Sunset Downs

After Hobbiton, I drove off to a farm not far down the road. I'd researched it on the Hobbiton webpage and found I could afford to splurge for one night, especially since the Kiwi dollar is quite a bit cheaper than the Aussie one. So I went to a lovely place called Sunset Downs.

Actually, first I took the wrong entrance and drove up to their neighbors. I don't think anybody was home, except for a large, yellowish dog that fortunately was just drool and love and only seemed interested in showing me its toy doll. Oh, and shedding half its coat on my black jeans.

The Sunset Downs is a nice little farm in a gorgeous landscape. I had a whole two-level cottage to myself, with kitchen, living rooom, a tv, dvd-player (LOTR was standing on top of the TV cupboard...) and a large four poster bed upstairs. I had a very good dinner (NZ lamb, mmmm) and breakfast with the owners, Diane and Russell, and Diane's English-born mum. We had a jolly good time, they're nice people and good fun.

I know I'll be going back to NZ sometime and when I do, a visit here is a must. So if you're looking for reasonably priced farm accommodation in NZ, you can't do better than Sunset Downs.

Pics:

I believe I've mentioned the nice, rolling hills of New Zealand before...?


Mine, all mine.


The sofa, whence I blogged and watched LOTR.


Eh? Eh? Eh!

Hobbiton

IN A HOLE IN THE GROUND, THERE LIVED A HOBBIT.

That is all.

Well, not quite all. First off, Hobbiton was built on the grazing land of the Alexander farm, in a landscape without buildings, transmission lines and roads. Second, Hobbiton almost never came to be anything but a place where a movie was once shot. They were demolishing the site when the rains began and the filmmakers asked if they could come back in 4 months and finish the job. Meanwhile, people had begun calling and mailing the farm, asking to come and see. Another two years went into negotiating the contract. Only then could the Alexanders begin to show people around. To this day, Hobbiton is the only LOTR site that still has anything left from the actual films.

The road in to the film site was constructed by the NZ Army, in '99 I believe. As our eminent guide put it, "they didn't have much else to do at the time". They took the site and rearranged the landscape as they needed to make things look like they do in the movie. After seeing the place and hearing some stories I have a whole new appreciation of how much hard work goes into shooting just a few seconds of film.

All Hobbiton pics here.

Bag End, where Bilbo lived. I was five years old at this point.


This tree is fake. The leaves are fuckin' handpainted. I kid you not.


The magnificent Party Tree, where the party on Bilbo's 111th birthday is held.


The tree and the lake were the reasons the film company chose this site. The buildings were rebuilt for the filming of the Hobbit, and are actual buildings, unlike the Hobbit houses. The Alexanders are in negotiations to put a proper pub inside and add this to the tour. I'll have to come back when they do.


*wail*


This "window" is just a box dug into the hillside, it's not connected to a house.


THIS is what a hobbit house actually looks like on the inside.


Random hobbit houses from the outside. They look snug, don't they?




I'm tiny! With some help from a creative guide and an English boy.


My ugly mug, pic taken by a russkie.


Pickles, the resident cat. She was found by the roadside and taken to the film set, where she was quickly adopted by everybody. Now she lives out there, and loves to meet new people and get some attention.

Beautiful, gorgeous New Zealand

So. I flew from Melbourne to Auckland early on Thursday. Friday I drove down to Hobbiton, outside Matamata and what a spectacular tour that was... These pictures are from the area around and also from the actual farm where the Hobbiton filmset is situated. This landscape is quite typical for central New Zealand; green, rolling hills with cows and sheep and wonderful trees dotting the landscape. Sigh.

All pics here.

Cuteness incarnate. Lamb from the Alexander Farm, where Hobbiton is.


Rolling, rolling, rolling.




A sheep blithely ignoring me, as it had established that I had no food.


I am currently doing a farmstay a few kilometers east of Hobbiton, this is some of the scenery from the drive here.