Read 'The Death Zone' then ask what's wrong with this utube vid

Matt Dickenson's book makes the utube torch coverage look like bullshit. Clues:
- Conditions
- Numbers
- The group lower down watching
- Alertness
- The mountain closure
- Credible independent confirmation
Guy Cotter and co won't be commenting anytime soon but I'm picking plenty of others will.

I've been wrong before and want to go to China again one day.

Why I Won't Try P

Don't show your kids this.
"stimulation can be measured by the levels of the neurotransmitter, dopamine, created in the brain. Normal levels would be 100. Sex is 200."

and P is .....

Tim, you're a great guy but I hope you're bullshitting with this one as well "Surveys show the majority of New Zealand teenagers will try it, yet only 10 per cent become regular users."

Scary stuff.
I'll stick to bonking, running and fishing thanks.

Do your spadework

Ever had that "Oh Shit !" feeling?
I can bluff a 20k run but not 36ks which is why I pulled the pin on 42ks around Rotorua 4 weeks out. Next year.

Not quite so smart was the time I jumped from the speaders of Ivan Erceg's yacht and got that feeling half way down. Even dumber given the mast moved when I pushed off. I got lucky in spite of my bad judgement and all the De Bortoli Karen and Fiona kindly poured.

A couple of others who should have done the spade work and pulled the pin:
- Ronaldo "I score not so hot chicks"
- Princes Wharf jumper
Could have been any of us :) Nah, maybe not.

A cruel blow

Yes nature can be cruel but knows neither mercy nor deliberate intent, unless God's a murderous bastard.

I'm one of the many thousands lucky enough to have spent a week (as a 12 year old, and as an adult on a kayaking instructors course) at OPC in the TR National Park and have fond and not so fond memories of the harsh weather, walks, activities and consequences of my decisions such as:
- taking a short cut (funny how the apparently easy way always turns into the hard way) through the cutty grass on the way back to the buildings
- my chest seizing up being first jumping into the water and
- a horror tramp up from the springs across Tongariro in the drizzle and racing the fading light back down through the tussock, our group strung out over a mile behind me and the instructor who was setting a cracking and I thought unreasonable pace but who wasn't about to offer explanations until the eventual shelter of a camp site in the tree line. Slept well that night.

I learnt valuable lessons that have served me very well ever since about preparation, fitness, assumed limits, challenging yourself, that there are times when we can grow from being driven hard, sometimes without explanation in order to achieve, and that there is a difference between percieved and actual risk, and that I truely love chocolate and cashew nuts.

My picks for the outcomes of the review. The OPC will:
1 begin using the latest Met Service weather information
2 upgrade their communication gear for instructors to recieve the latest weather info
3 establish 'no go' limits for activities using objective measures of risk factors such as stream height and change over 30 minutes.

Just goes to show "the highest safety accreditations and .....operating at the highest standards" are no guarantee of safety.

Who wants a 100% guarantee of safety. Not me.
My kids will be going to the OPC and I'd just love to go again.
Been meaning to do their risk management course for a while now and I'll bet it will be world class.

On a good weekend

The Chiefs have another win.
I beat my kayak fishing record; 11 gurnard (Where are you supposed to grab these things? My hands are a mess from the bare handed hook removing) , 5 snapper and 2 kahawai about a 1km off Manu Bay, Raglan.
#1 gets a great school report
#2 makes the under 12 WBOP football side and books himself a ticket to the Oceania tournament in Noumea in May. Q. Should I go. Hmmm. (Cake or death?).
#3 makes the top 8 yo team
Mum doesn't read this .
A new study shows that having a husband creates an extra seven hours of extra housework a week for women.
Oops.
Come to Noosa with me and I'll make it up to you.

Then Use The @#$%ing Remote !

Nuns performing oral sex, constant foul language, teenage drug use and explicit sex scenes in Californication not Family First NZ's thing

I enjoyed the episodes I caught and appreciate the balls and fibromuscular tubular tract of the shows backers and crew.


But "not designed to titillate viewers" ?

I bet the BK execs would agree.

Attitude

Saw a great bumper sticker today. "Congratulations, you've just been passed by a girl" accompanied by Betty's picture.

On a par with Kevin Roberts on sex and business.

I have absolutely no problem with the Fiat 500 or Monica Bellucci being described as sexy ........

but the message in the skins ad playing on TV reminds me of the old DB Bitter "Released Con" ad of the 80s.
A turn off because macho shit just doesn't hit the spot. The race aspect that is the focus of comments below the utube clip doesn't bother me but the 'warrior killer mentality' is bullshit. I know people who live that fucked attitude.
A guy with decades in family violence treatment once told me the inability to cope with the reality of male powerlessness was the major issue for the perps. This ad won't help.
Just my opinion.