Thursday, February 22, 2018

Wind, Rain and Painting

Wind and rain hasn't spoiled my annual leave this week because I've been painting the kitchen cabinets. I may have been tempted to be out and about if the sun was shining but ex-cyclone Gita's visit kept me on task in the kitchen. 

 

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Fire and Fury

Published with great fanfare and an effort by President Trump to block its publication I had to see for myself what all the fuss is about. It was a fascinating read, a great overview of many well known events and an insight into not only Trump's distinctive actions and reactions (including some bizarre speeches and downright nasty personal attacks) but also into the chaos and infighting among the lead players in the White House. 

However the writing style used by Michael Wolff rather detracted from the overall effectiveness of the book. Some of the sentences were laboured and the style rather convoluted. However what bothered me most was the assumptions the author made about the lead players' motivations, emotions and opinions. Although he states that he had access to multiple sources in the White House he's not a mind reader and I thought it would have been more effective to focus on their words and actions that were (and still are) quite astonishing on their own. 





 

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Once in a Super Blue Blood Moon

It was cloudy and there was no sign of a moon when I went to bed last night so I didn't bother to set my alarm.  But I woke during the night, glanced at the clock radio, saw it was 2.32am and decided to take a peek out the bedroom window.  And there it was, the super blue blood moon. 

It was the first time in 35 years around the world - and since 1866 in New Zealand - a blue moon has synced up with a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse, or blood moon because of its red hue. 

The second full moon in a calendar month is a blue moon. This one also happened to be an especially close and bright moon, or supermoon. Add a total eclipse, known as a blood moon for its red tint, occurs when the sun, Earth and moon line up perfectly, casting Earth's shadow on the moon.

I took a photo but the moon looked like a small dot on my phone and it was taken through my bedroom window.  The photo below from Beach FM Facebook was taken locally so it's just as I saw it for a couple of minutes before it became mostly obscured by cloud again.