The Billboards, Gone.....Bliss!

Now thats a real billboard. Lyttleton Heads Nov 11

Despite the world Cup shorterning the election it seems like this election has been going for months. Not sure about you but I have a bit of fatigue when it comes to media coverage and billboards. The billboards, the bloody billboards! 

Everywhere you looked a politician was squinting back at you trying to look like a leader, airbrushed, guts sucked in all buffed and cropped.  Suddenly today they are all gone! Now that is bliss. 

So as we enjoy the rest of our weekend and lament the Barbarians losing to Australia, that its back to work tomorrow and we are in for a few more years of Winston Peters peeing on powerpoles,  we also realize that better billboards are all around us. Its a case of noticing them, seeing the wood for the trees!

Southern Gold.

The New Normal: Christchurch of a Good Day!

The new normal: Cashel Mall re opens.

Had a day off today.

It was a bloody scorcher of a Canterbury day. I needed some new shorts for work so I thought I'd try the new central city shopping area. Cashel Mall in fact! I thought I'd try the new normal of central city life.

I had been there a couple of Saturdays ago but it was newly opened and packed. Today was actually little different. Some great shops, good coffee outlets and lots of people. Tourists were in the majority but we had the usual drifters, vagrants, buskers and the locals. Of course there is always the long haired academic looking bloke who needs a good shower who sits under a tree cross legged and reads his book. Good on ya mate! (Makes me wonder where he would go to read with no central city? He must have been lost, counselling would help no doubt!)

Colombo street: Back to basic foundations.

To be fair it was a nice spot to be. It is a little on the small side but it is nice to have something central to call "the city" after months of hanging out in the suburbs. It is nice to have some individual shops and to be away from the large Malls we have been left with. So in the sun, with huge diggers operating through scrimmed fences, cranes on the horizon dangling deconstruction workers and in amongst the new trees, shops and people I enjoyed a cold drink and a bit of German sausage in a bun. Call it lunch.

Negotiating the streets to get out of there in the car led to a drive down part of Colombo street. Not a lot standing and block after block of foundations and nothing else. Reminded me of pictures of Hiroshima after the A bomb was dropped.

Still the place is on the mend, there is lots of action downtown and in amongst the rubble Christchurch is getting stronger.

Whaling Pays Dividends

NZ Trotting cup tip sheet. Source: Dean Lester/Blue Whale

I went to the New Zealand Trotting Cup on Tuesday. It was a chance to "network" I told the team and whilst they rolled their eyes, it actually was.

It makes you feel old though doesn't it as you stroll through the crowd in your suit feeling larger than life and all around you Canterbury's teenagers seem to have the same idea.

This year the weather was average but got hotter as the day wore on. The rich and famous were all out there decked in pearls, hats, designer labels and fancy shoes. So too were the regions resident horror shows, wearing various shades of very little and clutching their booze as if it was about to be stolen.

The Cup Day in race week is a Canterbury icon. It is one week in the busy year when in all reality a three day week is worked especially given that the Friday is Show Day and a public holiday. It is a day for hanging out with family and friends and for the businesses that you work closely with to extend some hospitality if you are lucky enough to be invited.

This year I did something different. Dean Lester is in a  business networking group and is a trackside event host working on both radio and television extensively withinin the racing industry. He gave a few of us this tip sheet (shown above) and I actually followed it. At the start of the day I told the lady in the tote what I wanted in each race, dropped $100 on the counter to cover it and then kicked back.

In every race I collected, some good wins, some OK. The point being that I took the advice of experts in this field. Why in the past I ever thought I could ignore horse racing all year round and then show up annually and expect to pick winners I'll never know. Choosing horses with names you like actually isn't a recipe for success. (I did like the horse named Widowmaker and in past years I would have perhaps backed it.) Not this year though!

Not only did I win, but those I was with follwed suit and took the same advice and won too. I was the tips man! So thanks Dean Lester (www.deanlester.co.nz) for the timely advice and thanks to your professional tipster mate (Blue Whale) for pulling it all together.

Sometimes Whaling does pay dividends.