Muenster Swan in Love with Boat

As I was bopping around the web today I found an article about a swan in Muenster, Germany - the city Thimo is from - and its love interest: It seems the black swan has confused a large, white, swan-shaped paddleboat for one of its own, and has been flirting with and protecting the vessel for the past three weeks!

I just thought that you should know a little about the place Thimo is from...evidently these sorts of things happen all the time. Perhaps it's in the water?

See the article, which I found ala eyeteeth.

Tommie of the Year Ben Kessler on Selfishness

As if the University of St. Thomas had not already marginalized enough of its students, faculty and staff in 2007, and was was not already steeped in enough negative press, "Tommie of the Year" and seminarian Ben Kessler decided to use his address to his graduating class of 2007 as a soapbox to express his own, largely negative beliefs, rather than congratulating students for their achievments. Most students stirred quietly, gasping at certain statements, a few voiced their opinions and booed, some stood up and left, and some cried.

I will forgo making any statements about the speech, and whether or not it was appropriate, because I was not present, and have not been present for much of this very divisive semester at UST. I will, however, provide a major excerpt and some links for those who would like to learn more about what was said, and how the University community in particular and the Twin Cities in general are responding to the speech.



The beginning of Kessler's speech is the most controversial:

“The question remains: Is travelling and staying with an unmarried partner best for students, faculty, staff, and the rest of the St Thomas community? No. It is selfish. Again, right or wrong, it is choosing my own good – my goods – instead of the community’s goods. Students become confused, faculty and staff become scandalised, and the good of the St Thomas community becomes endangered, just because of the happiness of one or two people.

“What in society is selfish, some may ask? I would point to the common practice of birth control. Is using the pill good for the female, the male, and the long-term health of the relationship? No. Birth control is not good for the female, the male, or the long-term health of the relationship.

“Birth control is selfish. We all make selfish choices. I am no different in this. We all do. You can ask my parents, you can ask my friends, you can ask my rector, who sit with you today. I also make selfish choices. I am no different. I am no different.

“Regardless of the past…we must change for the future. We must stop making selfish choices. If we continue to make selfish choices, each one of us will be figuratively throwing food, climbing on tables, and being escorted out by the St. Paul police.

“My friends, please do not despair on this graduation day. This is not a day to despair. First of all, look at these graduates in front of us. Look at this impressive group of young people sitting in front of me. Second, graduations are for hope, they are not for despair. And I’m not here to bring you despair. I’m here to bring you hope.”

Paradoxically, it seems quite selfish of Ben to use the graduation speech as a platform to belch out his own selfish message, failing to bring most students, parents, faculty, staff, friends, and community members any bit of hope. I am despairing that these sorts of events will drive UST nose first into the dirt, as their hardline conservative Catholic image becomes more and more unattractive to donors, students, parents, faculty and staff.

Star Tribune article
Video recording of speech
Bulletin article: Dease's apology

April Fools!

You will be happy to know that April Fools Day
was not missed at 505A Great King Street...

Matt and I decided to pull the dirtiest of tricks on our little Jessie...we went in to her room while she was gone, emptied all of her drawers of clothing, grabbed all of her other clothes off her floor and shelves, and then stole all of her left shoes.

We left her with one outfit: A colorful top, a pair of shorts, and fuzzy orange sandals - the quintessence of style!

But, do onto others...I returned home from my day's classes to find that my room had been expertly TPed (Toilet Papered)! Anjali and Liz did an excellent job - and were very sneaky.

Fun with Suds!

Upon exiting the Regent Theatre after a Film Festival movie a few weeks ago, we found the lower Octagon covered by a dense soap flow! Some sneaky passers-by filled the fountain in the lower plaza with dishwashing detergent, and they were untouched and enticing, calling to the children in us all...

Who could blame us for running, slipping and sliding in the bubbles? The bubble hats and suds bras were a must, of course, and Holly, our fountain-swimming veteran, decided to strip down and go for a dip in the fountain! We simply watched, not wanting to let our skin touch the cold evening air...

Our hats -- and pants -- off to Holly!

A Picture Map

Just in case any of you have been wondering what "A Week in the Life" may look like for me, check out the picture below, taken from a hill above campus. You may need to click on it to see the larger version and read the text. Enjoy!

Dunedin Graffiti Art

Dunedin is home to some very intelligent and talented graffiti artists. I decided to highlight a few of the best, although I assure this I am just scratching the surface!

The Leith, a stream that flows all the way through North Dunedin, is heavily channelized across its extent through the populated and valuable areas of the city. In most cases this means concrete walls and beds have taken the place of more natural, vegetated walls and beds, which would be nicer looking and better for plant and animal life. However, the concrete walls are great surfaces for large-scale communal art.

Leith overflow channel south of Fourth Street, near harbour:

The first creature to be seen when entering the channel is mutated with four eyes, sharp teeth, and bathing in scummy bubbles.
This next one follows the grime theme with a woman wearing a futuristic gas mask and fumes in the background, with artist signature on the right.

Zom-B is behind much of the work.

This couple looks like an altered form of "Beauty and the Beast," separated by dirty water and steam flowing out of the drainage pipe above their heads.

This set of two images are connected, and depict an obese monster next to a shot-gunning fighter craft, flown by a demi-god Caucasian. I cannot quite make out the letters, but it is also by Zom-B. It is unmistakably a statement about the United States and its engagement in foreign wars.

Mighty man with a can, beside Zom-B's graffiti prophet.

Quaintly deformed couple similar in style to the bubbly dude farther upstream. Very savvy. Members of these guys' family dot Dunedin.

Upon returning last week, I found that this gent and his flower have replaced the woman with the mask. They seem to give a shout out to Dunedin's dub/reggae community.

This work of art was also new, now to the left of "Beauty," and depicts the word GREEN dominating a pristine natural stream and forest. Nice work, Zom-B.

This is further downstream by the Otago Polytechnic. A nice alteration. Dare we delve into its meaning...?





You may consider this your introduction to Dunedin graffiti!

THE FACE

May I introduce THE FACE, a unique configuration invented by my sister upon her fifteenth birthday 5 May 2006. It is spreading like wildfire across the world! Just look at these people below, and you may be inspired to try it on!

Step-by-Step:
(1) place thumbs in corners of mouth
(2) pull thumbs outward
(3) place pointer fingers under eyes
(4) pull under-eye skin downward
(5) bulge eyes or look upward
(6) show teeth and stick out tongue

Congratulations! Now that you know the basics feel free to improvise. Show your friends and family, and teach them how to do this new and exciting face!

Rakiura Weekend

The weekend of the 14th through the 16th of May found our crew in Rakiura/Stewart Island. We rented a silly bus (twelve-seater van)piled seven people in it (Thimo, Thomas, Al, Anjali, Liz, Brenda, and I) and drove south to grab the ferry!

The naming of the island (Wikipedia)

The original Maori name, Te Punga o Te Waka a Maui, positions Stewart Island/ Rakiura firmly at the heart of Maori mythology. Translated as The Anchor Stone of Maui’s Canoe, it refers to the part played by this Island in the legend of Maui and his crew, who from their canoe, the South Island, caught and raised the great fish, the North Island.

Rakiura is, however, the more commonly known and used Maori name. It is usually translated as Glowing Skies, possibly a reference to the sunsets for which Stewart Island/Rakiura is famous or for the Aurora Australis, the southern lights that are a phenomenon of southern latitudes.

For some, Rakiura is the abbreviated version of Te Rakiura a Te Rakitamau, translated as "great blush of Rakitamau", in reference to the latter's embarrassment when refused the hand in marriage of not one, but two daughters, of an Island chief. According to Maori legend, a chief on the island named Te Rakitamau was married to a young woman who became terminally ill and implored him to marry her cousin after she died. Te Rakitamau paddled across Te Moana Tapokopoko a Tawhiki (Foveaux Strait) to the South Island where the cousin lived, only to discover she was recently married. He blushed with embarrassment so the island was called Te Ura o Te Rakitamau.


KIWI! The island and Rakiura National Park are famous for their Kiwi birds, a type called Tokueka, which is not fully nocturnal like most kiwi, but also searches for some food during the daytime hours. The island may be the best place to view kiwis in the wild, because of the low population of rats, possums, and stoats. One of our major goals on the trip was to see us a kiwi or two...

Getting our Tramp On
We did the three-day-circuit Rakiura Track, beginning and ending in Oban, or Halfmoon Bay (map). The first day we tramped along the coast to the Port William Hut on the north shore of the island, where we had a delicious meal of burritos before playing cards for a few hours and heading off to bed. The beach, hermit-crab view, and tent images are from this first day. Not seeing or hearing any kiwi the first night, we headed out the next morning to cross the island to the north arm of Paterson Inlet, to the appropriately named North Arm hut. This is where our exciting Saturday began. Prepare yourself for a story...

Early Saturday morning, as the sandflies were just waking and the mist was receding, the gents on the trip were just finishing packing our bags, distributing weight (mostly food) among us. The gals decided they would get a head start on us, since they did not move quite as quickly as we did, thus getting our morning off to a faster start. Liz and Anjali both have slightly bum knees, which had been acting up the day before. It seemed like a great idea to us, so we said "See you soon - we're right behind you!"

After zipping the last zippers and pulling our packs on, we hit the trail to catch up with the girls, giving them a 15 minute head start. We snaked our way around, moving quickly along the boardwalk, and still had not caught up to them 30 minutes into the hike, where we got back on the main circuit track (see map above). We were a bit baffled that we had not yet caught up, but just gave the gals some credit, and decided to press on, thinking that perhaps they had really been moving.

Another half-hour into the forest, up and down wild flights of stairs, we became more and more skeptical about the ladies' location ahead of us, and started to theorize about how we might have left them behind us. When we passed a dude coming the other direction and asked him if he had passed three women our age, he said, "Nope." So we knew.

The three most probable ideas: (1) they had gone down to the pier to check out the bay, since Anjali had not been there yet; (2) they had accidentally turned left at the fork, and gone back to Oban rather than crossing the island to the North Arm Hut; and (3) they had accidentally taken the difficult and muddy track north along the shore, which is a ten day hike to get all the way around.

We sat around for a bit and ate lunch, then I ran back for a few kilometers and yelled from the top of the tallest hilltop for ten minutes. I heard nothing in response but birds, so I returned to the other guys, and we decided to press on to the North Arm hut, and then return to find the girls. The main issue was that it was getting dark and cold, and the girls only had bread and dried apricots to eat. This had turned into a rescue mission before we knew it!

--image break--

In the image collage earlier, the fern forest (center-right) is from midday Saturday, as is the view of Halfmoon Bay from high point lookout (bottom-left). The last image is me standing in the gorgeous fern-lush temperate rainforest on Sunday afternoon, just before entering "fern gully." I kid you not.

--image break--

Okay, back to it: Luckily, after only a ten minute return trip, just as the sun was setting behind the hills, the girls emerged into our sight, slowly sauntering on. We were all very happy to see eachother, and everyone got hugs. They did not want to stop and rest however, they just wanted to keep moving and get to the hut. Liz's knee had been in pretty extreme pain, and Anjali's to a lesser extent, before they decided to have some painkillers, chased with wine. Yes, it ends up they also had a bottle of wine with them as well, and some snack food.

They were ready for a good meal when we got back, so over spaghetti we got to hear about what had actually become of them, and how we got separated. It ends up Liz had thought we said to go on the Northwest track, and so they had trudged through the mud on a skinny trail for about 45 minutes, leaving fun messages for us to find, and having a generally fun time, before it occured to them that they might have taken the wrong path! Then we found out that they COULD hear every scream I made from the top of the hill, but I was unable to hear them respond, and they had blown their rape whistles too late for me to be in range. Golly. So, after a rough day, we were all together and safe again.

The night was not over, however, for we had to go hunting for kiwi-sighting opportunities! Thomas and I ran out too look after a couple also staying at the hut had seen a kiwi by the latrine. We delved into the forest with a infra red light, so as not to disturb or blind the bird, and sat around, listening and waiting. A large Stewart Island Tokueka ended up hopping its way into our path, and we got to watch it for about ten minutes! They are about the size of chickens, and are the largest kiwis, so it was quite fun to watch from a distance as it jumped around, poking its long beak into the ground periodically to sniff for insects. The kiwi have nostrils at the end of their beaks (very rare) and do not actually have feathers, but rather feather-like hair! Their wings are flush with the side of their body, and have small claws al the end (see picture above). It was great to see one - many native New Zealanders have not even seen kiwis - especially not in the wild!

After a satisfying night's sleep and a slow, lazy morning, we got back on the track and walked the last six hour leg back to Oban and Halfmoon Bay, where we made a dinner feast and stayed the night in the Stewart Island Backpacker.

Here is a lovely group shot looking out on Kaipipi Bay, a small cove of Paterson Inlet, on the tramp back to Oban on Sunday. From left to right: Dan, Thimo, Liz, Thomas, Al, Brenda, Anjali.

The sunrise over Halfmoon Bay on Monday morning was breathtaking. I am unsure of whether or not I have ever seen one so beautiful. We officially witnessed Te Rakiura a Te Rakitamau, the "great blush of Rakitamau." I guess he must have been wonderfully embarrased. The glowing skies of Rakiura will be remembered!

Adventures of Weeks Past

Because some exciting things do happen during plain old weeks, here is a small selection of news and events...

Congratulate Holly and Joe, who are now a cute and happy couple! Holly, who is from LA, has decided to stay in Dunedin throughout the next semester, because she is just to excited to go home! Joe is a punky kiwi from Auckland, and gives super hugs.

Meet Dan the pumpkin (even with glasses and a soul-patch), created by Matt and put in the freezer for a week. Upon thawing, he melted, and so got set on the window ledge. Bored the next day, we dropped him Humpty Dumpty style, and he popped like a balloon rather than smashing. He is now back on the window sill, rotting.

Matt and I cut eachother's hair last Sunday, and then I decided to dye mine! Holly helped me bleach polkadots around my head, a repeat from last summer, which we then covered with a deep red colour. My hope was that I would have bright red spots, surrounded by darker red. Unfortunately the peroxide agent in the red evened out the spots, and they disappeared, to my disappointment (but, I am sure, to some people's joy *cough--Mom and Dad, ahem*).


Last Friday we spontaneously decided to go watch the sun set from the Organ Pipes, a rock formation of hexagonal straw-like columns, which look west out over the valley. It was an amazing end to the week.

Market!

The Dunedin Farmer's Market continues to fill our bellies and lift our spirits! Although the produce is waning, there are still smatterings of apples, squash, beetroot, radishes, and potatoes to be found, as well as lettuce and cabbage. I don't want it to end!

See the crew, just chilling and eating some newly purchased nibbles.

Ten Days of Road Tripping Goodness

Welcome to the Autumn Break Tour!

We will be taking a brief day-by-day journey through our wonderful perimeter trip of the South Island from April 13th to the 27th. Hop in the back seat and join Anjali, Liz, Thimo and I! Here goes...

The sun was setting as we left late on Thursday night. We stayed at the Pine Grove Motel, a quaint backpacker just south of the Copland Track.

Introducing: the Caldina - our beauty of a station wagon that facilitated our long trip around the island.

Friday morning we started the right way, with BEANS ON TOAST! Oh yeah, looks good. We needed lots of energy for the eight hour hike ahead of us.

Here we are at the western start to the Copland Track. Most people start from the west, because beginning on the Mt Cook Villiage side means taking the Copland Pass, a very dangerous area prone to avalanche and nasty blizzards. We were not sure whether or not this was a "welcome" sign.

Early on in the trip Thimo and I found this lovely, soft moss hanging from the canopy - fascinating!

I stand in the middle of the path on one of the few flats, the mountains in the distance which we would hike along. Notice my bag and its thrown-together-ness. The day pack proved difficult on this hike...

Oh, and there was MUD! In this photo, a mud monster ate Liz's feet and refused to return her shoes, so we had to dig them out of a metre of mud! Delish.

There were small waterfalls like this one emerging from the hillsides all over the place, oftentimes flowing onto the trail, or even becoming the trail. That is, sometimes streambeds were the easiest feature to create the track on.

There are many swing bridges along the Copland Track, some of which are only necessary to use during times of heavy precipitation. We didn't need those ones.

The Copland River is a constant feature along the track - not surprisingly. Just like other rivers in these areas, the heavy mineral content in the water makes it sparklingly blue. After following it for 8.5 hours, we arrived, ate dinner, and hit the hot pools! One of the most attractive features of the Welcome Hut, the one most people stay at, is its natural hot springs. We just had to be careful not to put our heads under the water, to avoid an amoeba that carries menningitis. We had a great night's sleep and returned the next morning.

Lake Matheson is very close to Fox Glacier Villiage, where we stayed on Saturday night. Reflected behind Thimo and I is the shy Mt. Cook, hiding in the clouds. They say you have to get up pretty early to see Aoraki clearly. We look really good, though, which sort of makes up for it.

We decided to take a walk around Lake Matheson to see the view, one of the most spectacular in Westland National Park.

Here we all are, Liz, Thimo, Dan and Anjali, our happy foursome, next to Lake Matheson.

Sunday was a major day of driving, and our first destination on our way north was the Pancake Rocks. They are a very famous and unique formation, and look like layers of rock stacked on top of one another.

Every trip needs a tree-hugging picture, so Thimo and I gave this palm some love.

Here we see the pancake rocks looking over the Tasman Sea, out toward Australia.

Thimo and I get a cameo with the rocks.

Cruising consumed most of our Sunday, as we got back into the car and headed north to spend the night at a slightly decrepit campsite in Motueka.

We had intended to hop right into the kayaks and into Abel Tasman National Park on Monday, but inclement weather and dangerous winds made us change our plans a bit. Not a problem! We drove around and saw some other things. Anjali is standing on Golden Bay beach.

Wainui Waterfall, at the northernmost reaches of Abel Tasman National Park, was incredible. Even though it was pouring down rain, we decided to take the 45 minute hike into the forest to see its magnificence. There I am chillin at the bottom. We stayed in Marahau that night, at a really great backpacker.

Tuesday proved an amazing day for kayaking, so we went to Abel Tasman Sea Kayakers and got all outfitted and introduced to the ins and outs. After an invigorating and tiring day 12 km of paddling we ended up in Mosquito Bay that evening, with the canoe-in only campsite all to ourselves - well, us and the possums. They are everywhere. We got to watch the sun set, the moon rise, and the sun rise. The picture shows the sun setting. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Just so you can see, we really looked like pros! Anjali and I were pretty hardcore, yeah. The water was like glass on Wednesday.

Mosquito Bay was the first campsite within the Tonga Island Marine Reserve, and so we decided to head north in the morning to see the wildlife at the island. These seals were chilling and playing on a northwest inlet, and put on quite the show for us!

Wednesday evening we stayed at Paradiso Backpackers in Nelson, the ClubMed of them all, where we relaxed with beers on hammocks, soaked in the hot tub, and sizzled for a bit in the sauna. So good. The roses were smelling very nice on Thursday morning in Nelson, where we decided to walk around for a little while.

We checked out the Nelson Cathedral, built on top of a Maori sacred site. It was a lovely church, however, spotted with cool native trees, which attracted a few pretty insects and birds.

After lunch we headed south through Marlborough, the site of these eerily bare rolling hills. This is wine country, and there are grapes and wineries all over the place! We made a short stop in Picton, one of the first places European settlers came to the South Island and streched out legs.

There was much more driving to be done. Anjali and Liz mostly chilled in the backseat, seen relaxing here. We passed right through Kaikoura, a main whale- and dolphin-watching city, and decided (stupidly) that we had enough petrol to get us to the next gas station.

Unfortunately for us, all of the small cities on our way from Kaikoura to Christchurch had closed around 6 or 7pm, and so we found ourselves without. The gas light was shining red for 120 km, as I put the car in neutral to coast down hills, and followed close behind other cars in the hopes that they could siphon us some petrol if we ran out. But, alas, we found a petrol station just before that happened, and a sigh of relief (especially from silent Anjali) occured in wild unison.

We made it to Christchurch safely, got into our backpacker, and got some dinner and drinks with Hailey and Libby, who had decided (after I gave them of copy of our itinerary) that they would stay in the same place.

I woke up Friday morning with a large, fluid-filled sac on top of my right foot, which felt like acid was being dropped on it. Not cool. So, I got to spend my morning at the Emergency Medical Service, who told me that I had a nasty infected sandfly bite, likely from the untreated hottub in Nelson. I knew it smelled funny in that tub. I got some antibiotics and we headed out on our way.

Banks Peninsula was our first Friday destination, and we made a stop at Onawe Pa before going to the quaint French town of Akaroa. A "pa" is a Maori fortified villiage, and this one is very special to the local "iwi" or tribe. In this picture I am wondering how long it took to cut down all the trees.

Thimo ponders things deeply theological, and what he will have for lunch.

Friday night we ended up in Oamaru, with hopes of seeing Little (Blue) Penguins and Yellow-eyed Penguins, for both nest just south of the city centre. We got in a little late to see a lot of penguins, but we did get to see a few of the cuddly guys - they just don't show up well in photos!

Here are two members of a larger species of penguin we saw. Sort of ugly. Later these penguins and their two friends ate pizza.
After spending the night in Oamaru and having a lovely homemade breakfast across the street from the Holiday Park. Our only legitimate stop on the way back to Dunedin on the cloudy Saturday was the Moeraki Boulders. There I am, paying my respects to the amazing, round boulders, which are slowly formed in the ground and birthed out of the beach wall.

Here we are, back to Dunedin, looking down on the "thriving metropolis." What a great trip! But we were actually pretty happy and ready to be home! Yes, we now call Dunedin, New Zealand home. It was hard parting with our dear Cladina, but we brought ourselves to do it, and nobody cried.

That is all! A ten day autumn break well spent.