Posts by Hilary Stace
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I wonder if the panellists are fans of the 'Big Bang Theory?
By the way the Autism NZ conference is on 10-12 September at Te Papa. One whole stream for speakers on the spectrum.
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Cecilia, I heard Margot Lanagan talk on Saturday at Readers and Writers, and she discussed Tender Morsels. She managed to hold her own in a gentle way against her co-panellist Simon Sharma, who is a rather large personality. (I had gone along to hear SS as his solo talk was sold out.) Never read any of her books, and I'm not sure I want to, but she seemed a nice person doing some interesting things with historical fantasy, if that's your thing.
Simon Sharma also managed to flummox Paul Holmes on Q and A yesterday with his wide sweep of historical references ranging over a couple of millennia.
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No unauthorised vehicle access to the Wellington hills. The steep slopes are best tackled barefoot (jandals too slippery).
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These warm light evenings have been great for discovering all the tracks around the Wellington hills. I am very happy to pay any amount of rates for such good upkeep. It is wonderful to stand on the top of a hill overlooking the Wellington region at 9pm on a still balmy night with the full moon rising. Or sit at the top of a steep grassy slope (very barefeet friendly) and look right down into a concert or game in the stadium. Some suburban streets turn into bush or farm walks. All very safe too.
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Went out at 6 pm when it was 1-1. Drove back through Wellington after 7.15 trying to decide from the demeanor of the numerous yellow-themed people walking away from the stadium street whether the Phoenix had won. They actually looked a bit grim and subdued (but probably just relieved after the marathon game), so we presumed they had lost. Took a few kilometres and right passed the stadium until we saw anybody acting celebratory, and heard a few toots.
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The UK Conservative Party spokesman wants to rewrite their curriculum, and have the children rote learning lists of Kings and Queens of England while sitting in rows.
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Just walked up Tinakori Hill as you get a good view of the Wellington fault from the top, and can almost see what could happen with the Ohariu and Wairarapa faults too.
Lucy: I saw that docudrama and I thought it was quite unrealistic that they closed off the Wellington region at Otaki and didn't let anyone near the Miramar peninsula or the main affected areas. People would walk, climb and clamber, or steal jetskis to get to their families. Those two who broke into the chemist shop to get diabetes medication and were shot for looting - would that happen? (The office block in Maginnity Street where the group was trapped was where I did some civil defence training years ago.)
A more realistic story was the young adult story Earthquake (can't remember author but was well-known NZ writer). Had the mother walking home from her job in Porirua (took her a long time) and how the family coped in different parts of Wellington.
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Thanks Craig. I love the geonet site, and go there straight after a local quake to see how long before it is reported - which is usually pretty quickly. However, on Saturday evening I was reading an overseas autism site and a breaking news message popped up about the Chilean earthquake. Neither it nor the earlier Japan earthquake was yet reported on the geonet site as far as I could tell. I'm not complaining about that, but it would be nice to have links on the site to where you can find out the latest news about overseas earthquakes from gns type organisations.
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Lucy, Marcus: thanks. I like the jam image - can relate to that. Theoretically, as the technology develops, it should be easier to predict exactly when and where the tension will be released?
I need to go back to the Awesome Forces exhibition at Te Papa as I'm sure it is all explained there.
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I have some questions as I don't understand the physics. Can anyone explain seismology to me?
There was enough energy released in the Chilean earthquake to destroy buildings and landscape over a large region, slosh the Pacific ocean around, and speed up the earth's spin. Where did this energy come from? Is it new energy? And where has the rest of it gone? Could the earthquake have been caused or influenced in severity by the gravitational pull of the full moon?
I know earthquakes can influence animal behaviour, but I've also read on some blogs that some autistic people also sensed something around the time of the earthquake. What could be the explanation for this?