Natural Burial

If your choice of cremation or traditional burial is because of religous or cultural considerations, read no further.

However, if you could choose either option you may be interested in a further possibility, that of natural burial.

What is the difference? With traditional burial as at Newstead, graves are set in expansive lawns which are mowed and maintained. Monuments and plaques mark individual graves. In contrast, the area for natural burials will become over time an area of re-generating native bush where the individual graves will be indistinguishable and unmarked.

Those would would prefer natural burial consider it to be more environmentally friendly than either traditional burial or cremation. They consider it sufficient memorial to have contributed to a pleasant area of restored bush.

Fractur

Fractur is not for the faint-hearted. You might not want to take your granny to this play (nudity and language may offend) but you will keep thinking about its message long after you have left the theatre.

At one point in the play, we were asked to intervene to stop the violence on stage but we did not do so. I am still wrestling with my conscience over that.

Fractur is about guards and prisoners and the way they treat each other but with some uncertainties as to whether it is meant to be "real"or not. David Foote's take on man's inhumanity to man is chilling, troubling and intensely involving. He is well-served by his cast who will take his creation to a season in Wellington.

Alexander

Alexander is eleven years old.

He flew unaccompanied from Copenhagen to Auckland.

He has seen the pyramids of Egypt, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, the mountains of Serbia and the cities of Israel.

He has tramped Lake Waikaremoana, dug in the sand at Hot Water Beach, caught maomao and swum with dolphins.

He described a baby blackbird being fed by the father until it was strong enough to fly away.

He taught us some Danish words and showed us how to suck sweet nectar from a flower in our garden.

He made sandwiches for his lunch and squeezed grapefruit for juice.

Alexander gives me hope for the world.

Lose the lycra!

Is it shallow to care about how you look riding a bike? Not according to the CEO of Cycling England who told a recent cycling conference that "noteveryone wants to look like a rainforest toad on a bike". If we want to attract young women to cycling, he said, we should consider the barriers to their doing so. Hence the appeal of Frocks on Bikes whose members aim to "put the beauty back into biking" and have some fun in the process.

We should encourage people to take the short trips by bike or on foot. When we leave the car at home and bike to the dairy we get fresh air and exercise along with supplies. There is one less car on the road and we're saving money. These days a basic bike costs not much more than a tank of gas. And when we do drive we are more likely to share the road courteously with cyclists.

A recent survey showed that 42% of New Zealand households have a bike. Many are probably gathering dust in the garden shed. We could clean off the cobwebs, hop on and help save the planet. It could catch on!

Simple to Vote for the Super City

What do Rodney Hide, John Banks and Len Browne have in common?

They all agree that STV - Single Transferable Vote - is the best method to elect the mayor of Auckland.

Under STV, voters rank the candidates 1, 2, 3 ... If a candidate receives 50% or more of the votes, he or she is elected. If not, voter's second choices are transferred until a candidate gets over the 50% threshold. The elected mayor therefore enjoys the support of the majority of voters.

John Banks and Len Browne could receive a similar number of votes. Under First Past the Post a one vote margin could conceivably decide the mayoralty resulting in a minority mayor being elected.

The government has chosen to stay with FPP in Auckland on the basis that Auckland is already undergoing enough change. Given the importance of this election it would be an opportune time to adopt a fairer system.

from Refraction

Wonderful Waitakaruru!

If you should need convincing that art enhances public spaces, take a trip out to Waitakaruru Sculpture Park beyond Tauwhare (http://www.sculpturepark.co.nz/)

It is worth going just for the twenty five glass sculptures in the current exhibition but also to enjoy all the other striking, beautiful and intriguing art in the landscaped gardens of the former quarry. Rhododendrons in full bloom are an added bonus at this time of the year while the Leaping Frog cafe is a year-round treat.