Why NZ needs a Christian leader...

One only has to read the daily papers to see the crime infested horror show that our society and once very safe country has become. Murder, mayhem, robberies, rape, pillaging, etc, etc, it's all there, on a daily basis, just about.

In my belief, when Christianity goes so does morality and a sense of right from wrong. There is much too much concern about criminal rights, soft-option home detention, and the utterly outrageous 'provocaton' defence (the TV news at the moment as a trial to watch in itself with the notorious and sickening case on show....),

What's happened to NZ? Have we become so secular in our thinking that anything goes and lets forget justice? Also, it seems that we have taken a hammer to all the old values, morals and standards and shattered it to smithereens.

Yet has NZ really become a secular country? (remember Clark's such comment to the Queen?). I don't think so. Just visiting my local church on a Sunday morning tells me that. Mine local is a big church and it gets packed all right. And just look at our roots, our culture, our background. Founded on Christian values. Drive the country - churches everywhere. This does not spell out secular to me...when is NZ going to get the leader it needs, someone who stands up for the old, right and wrong values, values that reflect personal responsibility and the knowledge of wright and wrong...values that don't support the rampart crime, welfarism, non-community and greed of our current society...can we get back to what we had?

Wearing my heart on my sleeve, and about time

Backchat Cafe just had to go, it was a name that did not reflect my Christian beliefs. Being a Christian in NZ seems like a radical, daring thing to do these days, but I wish I'd seen the light sooner - it is the obvious step, the common sense thing to be, and the obvious choice.

So this is no longer really a political blog, I still have an interest in all politics, but I have found that it is a world that drags one down, that can be poisonous and very frustrating at times, especailly with a PM who refuses to listen to public referenda(even before the numbers are known). Hmm...not impressed at all, highly disappointing, to say the least.

Better to watch from the sidelines and get invovled in real life, Church time, real people and friends, solid family time, helping out where I can, visiting neighbours. etc. So what if I am not a part of the 'No Minister' crowd, there are some great right wing blogs out there, but they are welcome to it, and very good at what they do and there are plenty of them doing it. Good writing, excellent, perceptive commentary, lots of fun to read, including some of the Left blogs, as in Bollawey Road and No Right Turn. The righties seem to be best at it though, and I enjoy their honesty and openness.

Au Revoir to all my readers and followers (the one and only I have!), I will keep this blog going but the perspective has changed somewhat, which is a good thing, I believe, and very, very exciting, it's like learning to walk all over again. A radical choice, and the right one, I'm singing from the sidelines..lovin' it.

Back Benches was fun last night, or was it?

Too crowded, too hot, too loud, too disorganised. Could barely hear the person next to me let alone the candidates, but was something different, spotted loads of MP's and a few journos and well known bloggers. Fun, much better than the dreary and draughty hall 'meet the candidates' nights. Seemed like half of Auckland was there, certainly sounded like it. Went through $20.00 in five minutes flat on the very pricey drinks. Oh well, it's only money!

Last Chance Harvey - a must-see film.

Having tired of politics for once, I decided to do something different and go and see a film. Bowling up to St Lukes one cold Thursday morning, there was the usual blockbuster Hollywood fare, comic book retreads such as Angels and Demons, one title that does stick in my mind. I was pleased then to see that Last Chance Harvey was screening, as I'd heard this is good.

And so it is. Very good actually! Starring Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman, and set in London, it was wonderfully quaint and refreshing and decidely un-Hollywood. Playing the role of the title character, Hoffman is very believable as the jaded, cynical and rather lost Harvey Shine. Having travelled from New York to London to attend his daughter's wedding, Shine finds that his daughter is a stranger to him, his ex-wife is still angry with him and he is so unwanted that he does not even get to give his spoiled daughter away, she opts instead for her soon to be father-in-law to have that honour.

I loved it when he leaves the reception early (and who could blame him after such vile treatment from his so-called family?) and meets up with the intelligent, lonely and clear-sighted Emma Thompson, who lives an unhappy life with her elderly, intefering, but sweet mother. There is a sub-plot going on with her mother and a male Polish neighbour, he is seen to be constantly barbequeing 'stuff' in the corner of his backyard, Thompson's mother soon has him labelled as England's answer to the Boston Strangler.

But I digress, once Hoffman and Thompson meet up, the fillm really takes flight, the conversation is witty and gritty, the settings by the Thames River fascinating and I was oh so happy to be away from that revolting, white-dress merangue, look at me wedding.

For ninety or so minutes, Last Chance Harvey offers excellent escapism with several layers of depth and story, there is no gratituous violence and it is a film that let me do the thinking rather than going into unnecessary and obvioius detail. So many films these days assume that their audiences don't have a brain. The romance is there, but it is beautifully understated. It is a film filled with subtle nuances and possibilies. The kind of film that Hollwood made so well two decades ago, a film about real people, real lives. It made me think of the long-forgotten Ordinary People, an all time favourite of mine.

To sum up, I would give Last Chance Harvey four large stars out of five. I wanted more on the back story of the Polish neighbour though; just what on earth was he up to?

Happy Birthday To Me, one year old...

In blogspeak, that is. I have had this thing going for roughly one year, give or take, and the going has been slow lately. Too much on, too many irons in the fire, I've had a blog holiday for awhile and have rather enjoyed it. The virtual world can get virtually too much, is nice getting back to reality, such as smelling the coffee, visiting the beach, sketching a tree, visiting the neighbours, reading a book. I may come back to this, and I may not...I am enjoying 'real life' too much to fool around here for too long, and I believe my time has been used constructively...anyone want to start a Christian coalition? That was a real and serious question, believe it or not.

Ban the gangs as well as the patches

Great to have some common sense in the powers that be, and wonderful that the powers that be have banned gang patches. Maybe this is a baby step, but definately a step in the right direction. It's time that the decent, good people were stuck up for and the blatant, no-respect crims were sanctioned against. What a change it makes. More, I say, bring it on, and outlaw the outlaws, or is it okay to be perpetually deviant?

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