invisiblesparks’ Neighborhood

Ever wandered into a music or video store here and there are sections marked ‘A–Z’, ‘New Zealand’ and ‘Foreign’?
   The biggest section is the first one, and often we have the smallest section.
   Think about it though: shouldn’t everything not in ‘New Zealand’ be under ‘Foreign’?
   The other one I get a kick out of is ‘World’, which Borders uses. Shouldn’t everything be under ‘World’? I mean, if you have this category, there is no need to have any others.

Who knew that there would be an Already Ghosts group right here in Wellington?!

I believe when people die, that their spirit is absorbed into the universe, just as god intended*. My mom, my best friend, my grand dad....

On a nightly basis, (usually when I take the dogs out) I look up at the sky, see all of those stars and realize that the number of familiar spirits is increasing. It makes me sad, but it also makes me incredibly curious. 

I say hello to them all, say a little prayer and wonder what it's like for them out there....

(*not really the catholic way, but consider this yet another example of why I am not a good catholic.)

No, it's not the name of a new Disney after-school TV series. Sorry to disappoint.

The title of this post is actually referring to a couple of super-awesome photos from Amanda's recent trip to Colorado, where she enjoyed the rare and thrilling experience of having her face tasted by a full-grown wolf. Not many can say they've done that, you know, because usually they are dead or unable to form words through all the scar tissue...

I managed to get NZ$20 credit thanks to the Real Groovy loyalty card, meaning that I paid a grand total of NZ$10 for these two purchases today:

   I already had the first Casino Royale set, but it lacks a director’s commentary and many of the features one would expect for the NZ$35 I originally paid. I refused to buy the collector’s edition originally because I felt Sony would be getting my money twice. But for NZ$5, why not? Well worth it for all the extra stuff, deleted scenes and fascinating documentaries about the connections Ian Fleming had with the Bahamas (which many Bondphiles would not even know).
   There is even a documentary about the 50-year journey of the novel to this version of the movie, and clips from the first James Bond (with Barry Nelson) and the first time Casino Royale hit the big screen (in 1967, with David Niven—and we do get clips of Barbara Bouchet, Jacqueline Bisset, etc., too).
   Given how basic the Quantum of Solace DVD set is, my bet is that Sony will do this again.
   Secondly, this CD was on special anyway (NZ$5), and it has a few John Barry tracks, plus one Chet Baker one. It’s not the special album that Barry and Baker put together for this film, but considering that was never released in New Zealand, it’s the next best thing. A bit “1990s” in some respects (the Moby track in particular), but it has been ages since I treated myself to some music.

I had a moan about this yesterday on Twitter and Facebook, but seeing another ad for Leverage on the NZ City site brings it all back. Prime is promoting this TNT show a lot, but just as with TV One and Jekyll, they miss the fact that lead actress Gina Bellman is a Kiwi. Come on, folks, how about a bit of national pride? Our Gina is doing well!

How old do you think children should be before they join social networks like Facebook and MySpace?

If they have parental supervision and have a good record of heeding a parent’s warnings, I think one can be flexible on the age. Otherwise, at least 13.
   Are there not some networks just for kids?

It’s nearly eight months since I started the Cars’ group here on Vox. We are now seven members shy of 100, the group is vibrant and spam-free, and I want to thank all members for making it a great place to be.
   We have had spammers come in, but I have been quite active in deleting the obvious ones before they caused any trouble. One or two have got through, and were deleted after they sneaked in one spam post.
   To see how badly things could have got, I visited the old Cars Rock! group today. It still looks like no one is managing it, despite my suggesting to the group creators that I would be happy to help. There are a few legit posts there, but since mid-2009, spammers pretty much control the place, right down to multiple Russian porn posts.
   No problems with that here. We have great posts from all over the world—Japan, the US, Australia and New Zealand most often—and it’s exactly what I hoped the group would become. Thank you.

We watched this (thanks again to Tanya) at the office a few days ago:

   Hyundai, which made one of the cars that got squashed by the 62-year-old woman in the BMW X5 (she has since been arrested), saw a publicity opportunity, and presented the owner with a brand-new i30 Wagon (Elantra Touring in Canada). I know, it’s an opportunity made for bloggers to blog about worldwide, but you know, I really don’t mind being a sucker on this and post this video knowing its purpose. It is a happy ending, as the company says, but it’s also a great brand equity-builder on a global level. It shows that Hyundai is responsive to web culture, and has given its concessionaires and subsidiaries the clout to pull these things off for the good of its customers. It ties in to a promise at the start of the recession that the company would help with customers’ car payments if they lost their jobs.
   One big mistake is that the Toyota Avanza (the car behind the lucky recipient) is in shot for a lot longer than the Hyundai that the owner, Todd Jamison, was presented with.