UPDATE!
Change of Frequency
Well, Kara and I have been in Christchurch for over five months now and I've decided to reduce the frequency of these blogs accordingly. Our routine has become fairly standard with only some minor deviations that are not overly interesting, so I think a bi-weekly (fortnightly) periodical will suffice for the time being. Please direct your complains and concerns to my manager, Niko T. Cat, Jr. He will surely forward them on once he's eaten the edges and forgotten about them completely.
Change of Frequency
Well, Kara and I have been in Christchurch for over five months now and I've decided to reduce the frequency of these blogs accordingly. Our routine has become fairly standard with only some minor deviations that are not overly interesting, so I think a bi-weekly (fortnightly) periodical will suffice for the time being. Please direct your complains and concerns to my manager, Niko T. Cat, Jr. He will surely forward them on once he's eaten the edges and forgotten about them completely.
NEWS BRIEFS
Sparks!
We've been going every Sunday to a free concert series hosted by the City at the large downtown Hagley Park. It's been fun and has given a bit of much-needed relaxation time. We've seen bagpiper bands, synchronous dames, classic rock cover bands, and a Maori group. But the coolest by far was the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra's performance during Sparks. They played for two hours straight, generally covering famous film tunes. Still, it was very fun. It ended with a fireworks show to the theme song to Superman, which was fun. What wasn't quite as fun was the fact that it was heavily sprinkling most of the time and was quite cold for it being the middle of summer here. Also, about 1/4 of the way through the Superman theme, the fireworks stopped. Apparently there was some technical problem. After the song was done and after a brief delay, the fireworks resumed. The orchestra only jumped in near the end, but the spirit was there at least. This is the third fireworks show we've seen while here (Guy Fawkes Day, New Years Eve, Sparks), and there is another one in a few weeks. Seriously, these people need to spend less money on fireworks and more on repairing the city!
Sparks!
We've been going every Sunday to a free concert series hosted by the City at the large downtown Hagley Park. It's been fun and has given a bit of much-needed relaxation time. We've seen bagpiper bands, synchronous dames, classic rock cover bands, and a Maori group. But the coolest by far was the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra's performance during Sparks. They played for two hours straight, generally covering famous film tunes. Still, it was very fun. It ended with a fireworks show to the theme song to Superman, which was fun. What wasn't quite as fun was the fact that it was heavily sprinkling most of the time and was quite cold for it being the middle of summer here. Also, about 1/4 of the way through the Superman theme, the fireworks stopped. Apparently there was some technical problem. After the song was done and after a brief delay, the fireworks resumed. The orchestra only jumped in near the end, but the spirit was there at least. This is the third fireworks show we've seen while here (Guy Fawkes Day, New Years Eve, Sparks), and there is another one in a few weeks. Seriously, these people need to spend less money on fireworks and more on repairing the city!
Goodbye, Sweet Roommate!
Well, we lost our first and only roommate yesterday. Sam the Kiwi hasn't been doing well in Christchurch due to a bad job market and high costs and so he's decided to return to Wellington, where he worked for decades in the 1990s and 2000s. He was our first friend here and we're sad to see him go. He is a major boardgamer, which has been nice because he's always up for a game. We borrowed two of his games before he left and plan to return them to him whenever we visit Wellington (lookin' like April). We took him out to dinner last Monday to have one last outing before he goes. Then last Saturday, we had an all-day game day with him and a bunch of others. Kara and I played Eldritch Horror—it's conclusion was notably less than satisfactory—and then we played to games of CamelUp before leaving. We were there for six hours. CamelUp took no more than an hour in total to play. Do the math regarding the length of the other game. Yeah. And we lost. yay... :-(
REGULARS
Burning Bacon: Sourdough Gone Right
So apparently I've been doing sourdough all wrong. I finally had my parents smuggle in some San Francisco sourdough starter for me to use as a base, and it has gone splendidly since then. Right after I got it, I did one loaf of bread and it came out at least five times as good as my local loaves. Part of the reason for the success, though, is the manual that came with the starter, which teaches me right proper how to make a loaf in any condition. The next week, I made four smaller loaves, but the batch was twice the size. These ones I spiced with garlic and other spices and they came out great. Next, we move on to trying the loaves with spelt flour, which has much lower gluten content and is, therefore, better for you. I'm also excited to try the local sourdough yeast again now that I know what I did wrong last time. And finally, there is a recipe for making the sourdough bread in a bread machine, which would probably make the whole process about a million times easier...I may be too optimistic on that account.
I also have been harvesting my jalapeños lately and have a whole jar of pickled peppers now. The bush, meanwhile, has like a dozen more peppers and they've been getting bigger than before before turning red. In fact, they aren't turning red at all. Red peppers are supposed to be hotter, but since they're all mixed, I don't know. I haven't actually used any of my peppers yet because we made a big batch of refried beans and froze them a while back, but I suspect we'll be making some more in a week or so, so we'll see how good these peppers are. Yum!
Ups & Downs: Hiking the Port Hills
The port hills, which is the remnant wall of the Lyttleton Volcano, has numerous hiking zones on its sides and many state parks accessible to the public. A while back, we went on one such hike toward the Summit. My knee went out near the top, though, and we never got there. Two weeks ago, we tried a different route to the top, through barren brown grassland and a steep switchbacked track, and made it, exhausted, to the top at Summit Road. From there, we were able to see all of Christchurch and Lyttleton Harbour, which was really cool. The hike down was terrible, but my leg didn't go out.
The port hills, which is the remnant wall of the Lyttleton Volcano, has numerous hiking zones on its sides and many state parks accessible to the public. A while back, we went on one such hike toward the Summit. My knee went out near the top, though, and we never got there. Two weeks ago, we tried a different route to the top, through barren brown grassland and a steep switchbacked track, and made it, exhausted, to the top at Summit Road. From there, we were able to see all of Christchurch and Lyttleton Harbour, which was really cool. The hike down was terrible, but my leg didn't go out.
Last week on Tuesday, we went to a different, more remote part of the Port Hills called Kennedys Bush. There was an old slate and aggregate quarry at this site and a hiking trail that wrapped above and around it. The history placards made the entire journey much easier and the hike took less than an hour. Still, it was a nice day with scattered sunlight. The wind was fierce and clouds blocked the Southern Alps, unfortunately, but the view of Christchurch from the hills was beautiful. It was also cool to look over the edge of the quarry from the top. It was active as recently as twenty years ago, but was quickly converted to a park afterwards. We probably won't go back to the place but it was a fun little trip. We know of a few other Port Hills walks to try before we get tired of them and have to look for more adventurous nearby hiking areas. The next one will probably take us to the former gun batteries above Taylor's Mistake. That one should remind us well of the Cabrillo National Monument relics left behind from World War II.
The Kiwi Way: On Less Interesting Holidays
New Zealand lacks many of the creative holidays that Americans celebrate, but there are a few that replace them. One in particular was just celebrated last Friday called Waitangi Day. It is kind of the equivalent to New Zealand's independence day, but with a very strange history to it and a lack of patriotic celebration. Here's the back story. In 1840, a treaty was signed between the Maori of the North Island and the British settlers (virtually no Europeans were on the South Island yet). This was kind of unprecedented because it gave the Maori more powers than the British gave to most other indigenous groups. Its effects are still felt quite frequently today in many different areas of society. The holiday, therefore, recognises the signing of this treaty. But it didn't really bring peace and it didn't bring happiness. The Maori was classified as second-class citizens after it was signed and the British got free rein over much of New Zealand. Nowadays, the Maori use the treaty to stop construction projects, force dual language recognition of various things such as national parks, and halt the use of natural marine resources which the British did not anticipate in 1840 (like oil!). Thus nobody really likes the treaty on either side, and the day really isn't a celebration except for the businesses that decide to have sales during the weekend after the day. It's a very different feeling than with the US Independence Day, where patriotism is all played out—here, Waitangi Day is a solemn reminder of the divides that still exist between both ethnic groups and perceptions of New Zealand.
New Zealand lacks many of the creative holidays that Americans celebrate, but there are a few that replace them. One in particular was just celebrated last Friday called Waitangi Day. It is kind of the equivalent to New Zealand's independence day, but with a very strange history to it and a lack of patriotic celebration. Here's the back story. In 1840, a treaty was signed between the Maori of the North Island and the British settlers (virtually no Europeans were on the South Island yet). This was kind of unprecedented because it gave the Maori more powers than the British gave to most other indigenous groups. Its effects are still felt quite frequently today in many different areas of society. The holiday, therefore, recognises the signing of this treaty. But it didn't really bring peace and it didn't bring happiness. The Maori was classified as second-class citizens after it was signed and the British got free rein over much of New Zealand. Nowadays, the Maori use the treaty to stop construction projects, force dual language recognition of various things such as national parks, and halt the use of natural marine resources which the British did not anticipate in 1840 (like oil!). Thus nobody really likes the treaty on either side, and the day really isn't a celebration except for the businesses that decide to have sales during the weekend after the day. It's a very different feeling than with the US Independence Day, where patriotism is all played out—here, Waitangi Day is a solemn reminder of the divides that still exist between both ethnic groups and perceptions of New Zealand.
Thesis Shmeshish: The Great Paper Rush
The last two weeks have been hectic, and I mean that quite literally. Two weeks ago was my writing week for the first chapter of my thesis, and it was a long and tough slog. I worked through the weekend. Kara had a similar project so neither of us took a day off until Tuesday. I had a ton of writing to do. The final first chapter clocked in at around 15,200 words, which is a sixth of my entire thesis. Granted it still is lacking many sources and needs massive clean-up, but my due date was February 1st and I made it, so I'm happy on that account at least.
The last two weeks have been hectic, and I mean that quite literally. Two weeks ago was my writing week for the first chapter of my thesis, and it was a long and tough slog. I worked through the weekend. Kara had a similar project so neither of us took a day off until Tuesday. I had a ton of writing to do. The final first chapter clocked in at around 15,200 words, which is a sixth of my entire thesis. Granted it still is lacking many sources and needs massive clean-up, but my due date was February 1st and I made it, so I'm happy on that account at least.
Simultaneous with the thesis writing was formatting for my train book. This took my evenings and late night for the first week; the second week I moved it into the day and forewent my thesis since my next deadline isn't until May. Formatting has taken a ton of time, with all the photos having to be Photoshopped for cleanliness and brightness, and captions have to be written. Plus little things keep coming up within the articles that require further work, such as missing citations, new information that needs to be added, and strange formatting errors. I've also had to add a few more custom maps to the mix, which just adds to the mess. I will certainly be happy when this book is off my plate. As it is, I just finished the third section (minus four photographs) and am ready to start the fourth. Fortunately the fifth and last section is smaller than the rest and shouldn't take more than a few days to finish.
DISCLAIMER
The Khagan
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