denthepen's blog

Congratulations CHB Mail for your ' straw-poll on the Aromoana Woolshed!!

I think your poll accurately indicates the lack of local ratepayer support for investing $100,000 of  ratepayers' funds in this project.

There were three for council's involvement and a crushing seven against!!!

Even ex councilor Di Petersen's 'aye' was a dollar each way, because it was conditional on the community believing that council should go ahead and another was conditional on an unknown and unlikely factor, that the scheme would have a positive effect on the local  creation of jobs in the area.

It will be a great supprise to some members of the public to read in various publications that the Independent Police Conduct Authority(Previously The Police Complaints Authority) is finally about to render its final report on the Police shooting of Steven Wallace.

Court hearings have cleared those members of police involved of any criminal liability for the shooting and the NZ Police Association has stood behind its members and refused to see any shortcomings in their actions which led to Steven's death.

There must be many politicians and members of the police heirachy who wish that the matter could be ended on that note.

Some locals like the direct and cheeky style of Dennis Pennefather and others consider him somewhat of an upstart, be it standing for the mayoralty and council or 'At the throat' letters to editors.

Be you 'for' or 'agin' him, there is no denying that his works as a books author are fast being recognised.

His first two books, 'Constable' and 'Sergeant' are in the process of being combined into one volume to be titled, 'New Zealand Policeman' as the originals received excellent reviews.

The most recent of his works are: 'An Almost Understanding' (fiction) of which Graeme CASS for HB Today said;
"Leaves you with an after-burn you will want to share with a friend."

Dame Fiona KIDMAN (Current Creative NZ Writers' Fellowship holder) said,
"Certainly packs some punches and touches several new spots in the emotions"

Regardless of fuel prices and available fossil fuels, the internal combustion engine will be with us for a couple of decades yet.. New Zealand-Aotearoa could lead the world without encroaching on good food-production land too heavily. HOW?? We need to take a step back into the technology of yesteryear and then drag it past today and into the near future. In the past, turpentine was produced from the leaves of pine-trees. It was only with the abundance of crude-oil technology that turps (biological) was swapped for mineral-turps. I am not sure of the octane rating of turps, but it must equate quite well to that of kerosene. I am sure that the octane rating could be lifted with a little ethonol or methonol, but we can leave that detail to the bofins. What does NZ have heaps of? PINE TREES!!!!! What else does NZ have heaps of?

When did you last see a review of the works of a self-published or print-shop published author in a national newspaper or magazine?????

NOT RECENTLY?

Regional newspapers seem to be giving authors a fair go,but the nationals appear to be giving the publishing houses either a formal or informal, exclusive right to published reviews.

"Taihoa!  Hold on! "  - you say, "Perhaps the quality of such books are not up to national book-review standards?