tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13116139873910839802014-10-03T00:03:34.287-07:00Keith Fenwick, Writer, The Skid ChroniclesThe home of the Skid Chronicle's sci-fi novels published on Amazon. Check here for updates on the novels and start up a discussion.
When time and injury permit Keith aka Dirt also rides a dirtbike and videos his slowing progress which he will post here from time to time.Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-30882645820376103052014-03-14T18:53:00.000-07:002014-03-14T18:53:18.398-07:00NZ Labour Party struggles for a clear purpose in the modern worldThis week Prime Minister John Key announced the date of the next election. Predictably the NZ Labour Party led by David Cunliffe came out swinging in the belief that they are the still the main opposition party in New Zealand and have some kind of divine right to rule the country. Prepare yourself for a great leap backwards if the Labour Party is elected.<br /><br />The NZ Labour Party was born out of a need to provide a voice for the working man in the bad old days and the party implemented a number of policies that we take for granted today. But the world has moved on since the party was established in 1916 and the Labour Party seems to be struggling with establishing a clear place for itself in this modern world.<br /><br />While there are always exceptions, the days of big business and the rich as exploiters of the poor and the working man are almost behind us as the more enlightened leaders of business focus on engagement and treating their staff as partners rather than objects to exploit mercilessly in the pursuit of a buck. Unfortunately the last vestiges of Trade Union movement are populated with figures that perpetuate these antediluvian attitudes.<br /><br />In general we are all far better educated today than our forbears were when the Labour movement was at it's height and our aspirations and expectations have changed as our lives have got richer. No longer will we stand for employers who do not treat us with dignity and respect but nor will we stand for a bunch of dogmatic Labour and Trades Union leaders telling us what is good for us when we can quite clearly see that they simply have their own self interests at heart. There are clear examples today where the sun is setting on some industries but the unions still want to maintain jobs that the rest of us would have to subsidise.<br /><br />A clear sign of the identity struggle that Labour has is that the champion of the working class has elected someone as their leader who inhabits a world far removed from that of the people that he seeks to represent. Of more concern is that the political wing of the party has been highjacked by extremists from the party backrooms so if by chance the party is elected to power the country won't actually be governed by the elected members alone but by an uneasy coalition of the elected members, party members and Trade Unions. <br /><br />The other challenge for Labour is that other parties have taken positions that they previously covered. The Green Party has siphoned off some of the intellectual capital that Labour has enjoyed in the past and NZFirst has become the home of the rednecks and interventionists.<br /><br />Labour can't be the green champion because somebody else fills that space. National fills the space of personal and fiscal responsibility and looking after those less fortunate. All that is left for Labour is the role of leader of the Nanny State and most of use realise that, that isn't the right path for a modern progressive democracy.<br /><br />Whichever way you look at it the NZ Labour Party is struggling for a clear purpose in the modern world and seems hellbent on taking us along a Great Leap backwards to the good old days because they have no clear vision of what a modern progressive democracy should look like.<br /><br />Hopefully they'll kill themselves off after the next election.<br /><br />Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-84367569783380196782013-12-29T20:58:00.000-08:002013-12-29T20:58:23.955-08:00The Second Coming-Media release<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Media release for the Second Coming</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Local Author Publishes Second Skidian Chronicle Sci Fi Novel on Amazon Kindle </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Auckland NZ, December 29 12 2013 – Auckland writer, Keith Fenwick, has released the second Kiwi themed satirical science fiction novel in the Skidian Chronicles trilogy; The Second Coming. This is Keith Fenwick’s second novel.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">In his first novel “Skid - The First Chronicle” Keith </span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Fenwick takes us to a highly sophisticated world where civilization is about to fall apart in a spectacular fashion. A world whose leader’s arrogantly assume that they can do no wrong in the face of the dangerous signs of a disintegrating world around them.<br /><br />In the Second Coming Skid has undergone the apocalypse signaled in the first novel, now revealed to be the work of the malfunctioning computer intelligence charged with maintaining Skidian society as the most powerful and sophisticated in the known universe.<br /><br />The Second Coming follows the main human characters, now back on planet earth, grappling with a gap in their lives they cannot explain and details the almost complete disintegration of a once powerful and sophisticated society. Skid once had a population that numbered in the hundreds of millions. By the time the story returns to the planet Skid after a short and eventful interlude on planet earth where a new pivotal Skidian character emerges and treats the locals with complete disdain, the population has dwindled to several thousand Skidians eking out a basic living as best they can.<br /><br />The Second Coming reminds us how fragile a flower intelligent life is in our universe and how close we all are individually and collectively from disaster that threatens our way of life. One drunken miss step, one line of rogue code, one random, unprecedented incident on top of an unfolding disaster and it could be the end of most of us.<br /><br />Reviewer Andrew Baker says, ‘I found the book quite fun, especially when I got to the meat of it. It's quite comical and some of the adventure and action made it so I had to keep reading on past my bed time. The Second Coming turned out to be a fun and funny read and I would recommend it to anyone that has the endurance for longer, slower adult science fiction novels.<br /><br />The Second Coming Kindle version<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Second-Coming-Skidian-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00F8A9FRG" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>Second-Coming-Skidian-Chronicle<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>s-ebook/dp/B00F8A9FRG</a>ASIN: B00F8A9FRG<br /><br />The Second Coming Print version<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Second-coming-Chronicle-Chronicles/dp/1492742619" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>The-Second-coming-Chronicle-Chr<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>onicles/dp/1492742619</a>ISBN-13: 978-1492742616<br /><br />The First Chronicle<br />Kindle version <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>B009FIAMXS</a><br />Print version <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skid-The-tasting-plant-Volume-1/dp/1479378844" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>Skid-The-tasting-plant-Volume-1<wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>/dp/1479378844</a></span>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-12379401881703684522013-11-17T22:26:00.000-08:002013-11-17T22:26:42.007-08:00Review -The Second Coming<i style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Second-Coming-Skidian-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00F8A9FRG">A Review for the Second Coming </a></i><br /><i style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></i><i style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">The Second Coming</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"> by Keith Fenwick is a next-in-series title about several different people whose stories are in some way related, but if you are just coming in you don't quite know how. Sue and Bruce are normal, everyday Earthlings... mostly. Sue, who owns a travel agency, is somehow pregnant when she hasn't had a sexual partner in a very long time. Her best guess is immaculate conception. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">Bruce, on the other hand, is a bit of a foul mouthed, rugged loner living off the land. He feels that something is missing--a chunk of his life perhaps. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">On the other hand, Mitch, a third Earth personality (and the United States President), was experiencing no abnormality in his life before a spaceship landed in an American military airplane hangar after a little airspace encroachment, battle, and chase. The alien flying that craft is Myfair, the happenstance ruler of a mostly unknown planet, Skid--the most advanced planet in the universe.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">In the wake of a mind-blowing apocalypse on his planet caused by a malfunctioning computer intelligence charged with making Skidian life as easy as possible, Myfair was simply traversing the deep, not looking for anything in particular, when he accidentally stumbled upon Earth, violating American airspace and instigating a dogfight in the process. The skirmish caused him to lose control and scrape his ship across a range of mountains, forcing him to find a place to land. A secured military base is as good a place as any, wouldn't you think?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">To you and me it would seem like an insanely stupid idea; but to an intelligent life form that considers us a pitifully ill-advanced, backwater planet that can be easily handled, an air of arrogance keeps our intelligent thought process from rendering us dangerous to a Skidian, and even worthy of note. This is why Myfair was just fine with parking in a military hangar and taking a Sunday stroll around, checking out American war planes. His lack of realization that there could in fact be danger on such an inconsequential planet is just the reason he runs into Bruce, Sue, and President Mitch, which begins their journey together.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">As a critique, it takes a lot of reading to get to this point. It could have easily been a hundred or more pages shorter. In addition some of the sexual description was weird, almost as though it hardly had a place in the book. I don't mean all of the sex in general, which was very little, but when it popped up unexpectedly--specifically from the main female character's perspective--it took me by surprise and seemingly without reason. On the upside, there are almost no instances of it. In fact, all such instances containing sex probably only amount to a single page, or less even. My final critique is that Bruce's mother added an almost irritating ingredient to the mixture that bothered me--not because it existed, but because it worked itself into this book so late. Perhaps Fenwick touches on this in the first book, which could make me wrong in thinking this was new, but it was bothersome none-the-less.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">All in all though, I found the book quite fun, especially when I got to the meat of it. As the book follows Myfair and other Skidians and allows you to see what their arrogance and underestimation gets them into, it's hard not to laugh. Reading about the effect that Bruce and Mitch have on others is no different; it's quite comical and some of the adventure and action made it so I had to keep reading on past my bed time. </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">The Second Coming</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #504945; font-family: Tahoma, 'century gothic', Arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">turned out to be a fun and funny read and I would recommend it to anyone that has the endurance for longer, slower adult science fiction novels.</span>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-77494963912394013542013-10-26T20:39:00.000-07:002013-10-26T20:39:58.057-07:00Behind every good author stands a great editor or spell checkers are greatI have only recently realised what a great benefit to the process of writing an editor is, My editor is just starting out but she is fully involved in helping me address the continuity issues and basic grammatical errors that I tend to to make. Spell checkers are great but bit nothing beats a well trained eye to sniff out those silly little errors.<br /><br />For those of you that have read the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Second-Coming-Skidian-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00F8A9FRG">Second Coming</a> you should notice an improvement in continuity and structure as well as grammar and punctuation.<br /><br />Despite good marks in English at school, and let's remember I went to school in the days when typing classes were for girls while boys did manly stuff like woodwork, correct grammar and punctuation are a bit of a mystery to me. I got caught up in the era where the precursors of the Green Party controlled education and decided that good grammar was not necessary to rite a good story. How wrong they were. And yes I wish I had learnt to type plopperly as, as you can imagine typing a full length novel is a bit of a mission with all the mistakes and backspacing.<br /><br />I feel that my creative juices flow best when I write something long hand but it is also pretty pointless giving a manuscript to someone to type up as my handwriting is also atrocious. I bought a livescribe pen to convert my scrawl to text recently, unfortunately these pens are not designed with the likes of me in mind. They require neat and well formed script -which I haven't, so this experiment to truncate the editing process has only been partially successful.<br /><br />But back to the editor. If you need editing assistance try these guys. <a href="http://styxpress.co.nz/">http://styxpress.co.nz/</a><br /><br />Finally found some gravel for the new toy. the first road I found had just been graded but I found a few others today that I could have a good fang down. Need to get the helmet camera out and take some video.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bJmDk3mdGgM/UmyKSiDRQHI/AAAAAAAADZw/RY5U2uPyhv0/s1600/WP_20131027_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bJmDk3mdGgM/UmyKSiDRQHI/AAAAAAAADZw/RY5U2uPyhv0/s320/WP_20131027_001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-13029780038196146192013-08-09T23:08:00.000-07:002013-08-09T23:08:49.222-07:00The Second Coming<b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The Second Coming- Part two of the Skid Chronicles serie</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">s</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" />click<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009FIAMXS"> here for the first novel in the series</a> <br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></b><br /><b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Synopsis</span></b><br /><b><br style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></b><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Second Coming is the second novel in the Skid Chronicles series and follows on from the first novel in the series where our unlikely protagonists were kidnapped by a team from the Planet Skid who were on a mission to locate expertise to assist them in developing alternative food sources to feed their people as the planet’s synthetic food production systems began to fail.<br /><br />The Skidian team selected a team of experts at random without really understanding the expertise that they required to achieve their objectives. More by good luck than good management they had found in their random and unscientific search someone who could generate new food production systems in the form of New Zild Kiwi style grasslands based cattle farm, station or ranch. Unfortunately for the Skidians as the old earthly adage goes; ‘you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink,’ the enterprise eventually failed because not enough Skidians wanted to get their hands dirty in the enterprise.<br /><br />Since the inception of modern Skid as it was at that point in time; the most sophisticated and powerful civilisation in the known universe, the concept of having to actually do anything remotely connected to work for most Skidians was unknown and hundreds of millions of Skidians had been governed by a small group of hereditary rulers who didn’t brook any change to the status quo.<br /><br />Quite unknown to those rulers or perhaps unacknowledged by them in many respects, in actual fact their lives were monitored and controlled by an artificial intelligence that in many ways was as flawed as the society that it was tasked with maintaining.<br />The alternative systems developed by the offworld experts would inevitably lead to the transformation of Skid as it was known and the fracturing of Skidian society. Faced with a choice between maintaining the Skidian Way and perhaps saving a good number of Skidians from certain death, the hereditary rulers chose the former and hoped for a miracle to deliver them from mass starvation and the end of the Skid as they knew it.<br /><br />To make matters worse the artificial intelligence that monitored all the systems that kept the population fed, housed, and watered was experiencing its own difficulties.<br />The second novel deals with the aftermath of the breakdown in food supplies. The offworlders have been returned home after undergoing a partially successful memory wipe and Skid is slowly recovering from the disaster that; not for the first time has all but destroyed the most powerful and sophisticated civilisation known in the known universe.<br /><br />The first novel in the series can be bought here</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009FIAMXS" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="background-color: white; color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009FIAMXS</a></span>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-43361424475086755512013-05-08T23:30:00.001-07:002013-05-08T23:30:55.778-07:00The Skid Chronicles The second novel in the Skid Chronicles series of science fiction novels is close to being published. Here is an excerpt from the novel.<br /><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"It amused Bruce how these three copied him so studiously, it also came as a sobering surprise to realise that they considered him a worthy role model. He’d never considered that before, him a role model? The three of them had forsaken the Skidian tradition of smoking agbar through the nose, affected clothing like his own and made hilarious attempts to work his dogs that the dogs equally studiously ignored. It wasn't so much that they were one man dogs, they simply didn't understand what the Skidians required of them. Cop reckoned that their attempts at whistling made about as much sense as a flock of mating fantails in the springtime. The dog made his own fun on the odd occasion and pretended to respond thereby raising their hopes and them shattering them as he and the other two dogs loped off midway through a job or simply refused to budge"</span><br /><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Purchase the first novel here.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS">http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS</a>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-47053946957973160542013-05-02T00:41:00.001-07:002013-05-02T00:41:29.742-07:00<br />Excerpt from the second novel in the Skid Chronicles series<br /><br />Check here to download book one in the series...<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS">http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS</a><br /><br />Excerpt<br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Do the people back at the ranch think like Mischief and his cronies?” Mitch asked as they sped away from the industrial complex.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“They want something called collective leadership there, they want to vote for their leader,” Myfair replied, shaking his head not comprehending how they had developed such bizarre notions. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“A power crazy megalomaniac on one hand and a bunch of hippy commie democrats on the other, not a happy state of affairs. I wonder what the rest are like?” Mitch muttered to himself. It’s just like home he thought morosely and it suddenly struck him how polarised the politics of his nation was and how he had contributed to the legislative impasse that deadlocked the nation politically. Neither his side or the other could actually do what they really knew was required to save the nation from falling over a financial precipice at some point in the near future because they had locked themselves into fiercely partisan positions that they felt they couldn’t retreat from even if it was for the greater good. Secretly they all did just enough to stave off financial Armageddon happening on their watch.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Myfair didn't understand what Mitch meant and didn't really think he wanted to know. Nor did he want to know what other fledgling power structures were sprouting elsewhere around the planet that he would have to deal with at some stage. Not just yet. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Voting for a leader isn't all that bad a thing,” Mitch ventured, “but this business of collective leadership has got to be stamped out quickly.” He added letting his own well developed prejudices surface. It was ok to act like a dictator as long as you were more or less democratically elected and had more and bigger guns than anyone else.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">At least they agreed on something Myfair thought, wondering if it was such a good idea to lean too heavily on Mitch. Already he felt as if events were moving out of his control, as if he were on the verge of tumbling headfirst into an abyss with no chance of saving himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">First; the Aotearoians had rebelled against him after earlier pledging their support for his leadership. Then Mischief had developed his grandiose delusions of power. The only bright spot was that Mischief had been quickly brought to heel, but what damage had been done in the process?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Already a significant number of Skidians had experienced life without a Chief Mati and were getting used to the idea of making some of their own decisions, could they ever be brought back into the fold?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">And what of the other Skidians he hadn't even sought out yet? Myfair tried to grasp the size of the job ahead of him and failed. He suddenly felt as if it was all too much for him, the task seemed to stretch away into the future and he couldn't imagine where it might end.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"> “What are they doing down there?” Mitch asked, breaking into Myfair's train of uncertainty.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Where?” Myfair asked following the direction of Mitch's pointing finger.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Myfair banked the patrol craft and looked downward on an almost primeval scene. A group of desperate Skidians, emaciated and clad in the filthy tattered remains of their robes were milling around the body of an ivop.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Myfair watched as several of the group raised large stones into the air and brought them down on the head of the animal. Myfair thought he could see bright red blood spurting into the air as the ivop suddenly lurched to its feet, leaving several of the Skidians on the ground as it stumbled off.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Immediately the rest of the Skidians were onto it again, knocking it to the ground again and this time it didn't stir again as they beat it to death with their rocks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Christ,” Mitch muttered as the Skidians tore at the carcass, tearing away strips of skin from wherever they could and stuffing bloody flesh and offal into their mouths.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mitch was stunned by the sight of the Skidians tearing at the bloody flesh with their bare hands almost totally oblivious of his presence as Myfair landed the patrol ship and they disembarked. A few heads swung their way as they gingerly approached the group but most of them were too engrossed in their impromptu orgy to give the visitors a second glance.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">In his time Mitch had experienced some pretty devastating sights, mainly second hand via reports on the television or in special briefings which he thought had affected him to the point where he had mobilised the vast resources of his country to help where he could. But here standing on a planet far from home the full impact of the misery suffered by people after a disaster of any kind, really struck home in a much more devastating and personal way than he had ever experienced previously.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">He had seen people in rags before, seen people waiting patiently for food that wouldn't arrive in time to save their emaciated bodies. He'd seen people vainly scrabbling through the wreckage of their homes after a tidal wave or earthquake. He'd watched reporters and various public figures imploring the wealthy to assist the disaster stricken, using their celebrity status to prick at consciences, stirring the nation’s guilt which was assuaged by band aids that lasted until the next catastrophe. Mitch had squirmed in frustration as he tried to deal with obdurate leaders who wouldn't accept aid with strings attached, while their people starved and squirmed even more when he was pilloried by his electorate for failing to act to help when it was clear he should.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">But he'd never felt as impotent as he felt now or felt a greater urge to do something practical to help as he watched these desperate Skidians. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“We must do something”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“What do you mean?” Myfair appeared surprised by the question. It hadn't occurred to him that he could do anything, except maybe point them in the general direction of Aotearoa.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“We must do something to help these people.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Like what? Myfair asked, not thinking about the patrol craft that could easily transport this small group of Skidians to Aotearoa, a patrol craft that carried ample supplies of synfood. Instead he made sure his dazier was ready for instant action in case the situation turned nasty.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“What about food? There must be food aboard and clothes,” Mitch added,” and couldn't we transport these Skidians to Aotearoa?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Yes, but why should we do that?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Myfair you want to lead these people, why don't you show some leadership and help them?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Myfair's mind wasn't focused on the scene as Mitch's was, he just couldn't help but wonder how a Skidian could stoop let himself or herself go as these ones had. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“But what about our meeting with Mischief?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Oh fuck Mischief, we can deal with that ratbag later. First lets’ do something for these poor sods.” Mitch didn't wait for Myfair's reaction and walked up to the group.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">They were an even more pitiable group at closer range. Bony arms and legs, covered in open sores stuck out of their dirty torn robes. They all wore dull desperate expressions, now splattered with blood and gore as they feebly tore at the dead animal's carcass. Most of them didn't even have access to where the flesh was bared Mitch saw, the weaker ones being pushed out of the way. They didn't appear to have decent weapons either, or even knives, though as he approached one or two of them raised rocks ready to throw in his general direction. Prepared to defend their meal.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Over there is your leader,” Mitch pointed to Myfair, thinking as he did so that the simple act of saving these poor souls from their desperate existence would ensure they saw Myfair as their saviour. “He has come with food and clothing and the promise of a new better life.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">None of the Skidians really looked interested in what Mitch had to say. But then slowly it seemed to dawn on a couple of the weaker ones that there might be better pickings elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Weakly they made their way toward the space ship and then broke into a painful parody of a run that made Mitch wince just to watch them as a robot appeared at the patrol craft's door pushing a trolley laden with synfood.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mitch was almost caught in the crush as the rest of the Skidians suddenly realised what was happening and rushed for the trolley. They jostled each other out of the way in their haste as the stronger among them shoved the weak out of the way. Nevertheless there was enough for all.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Within minutes most of them were throwing up whatever they had eaten, but this didn't seem to deter anyone and they continued to gorge until finally they were sated.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mitch was impressed with the way Myfair finally reacted and also with the utility of the Skidian patrol ships. Myfair might not be able to think of much himself but once he got the general idea he was a hard man to stop.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">While the rest of the Skidians were emptying the food trolley into themselves and then vomiting it out again Myfair had set up a mini camp complete with showers, had laid out fresh clothing and was moving among his subjects and accepting their thanks with humility and grace.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mitch became a little indignant. Wasn't saving them his idea? After a moment he decided - maybe this is better and he considered just how far he might be able to go before Myfair realised he was having his strings pulled like a puppet. He sat himself on the ground beside the patrol ship, half listening to the tales of incredible hardship and realised just how thin the veneer of civilisation was for perhaps all so called civilised people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The remnants of Skid that he had been exposed to seemed to indicate a well ordered and highly sophisticated society supported by a level of technology that made his head swim. But as soon as the Skidians had experienced a break down in order and were failed by their technology, this group at least, had rapidly degenerated into something primitive and quite frightening. Resorting to cannibalism, living off corpses and worse when their world crashed around them. They had barely survived where most of their fellows had perished. Who were the lucky ones? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now, full of food, freshly clothed and washed, secure in the presence of a leader who's right to rule they recognised these Skidians were transformed once again to their former selves. Or almost. Mitch could see it in their eyes, he recognised that the trauma of their experiences would stick with them for a good long while, if they ever left them. This was something that he had seen before as he visited one disaster area after another and seeing the haunted looks of the survivors as they struggled to put their lives right.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">I wonder what they will want now? To return to their cocooned former existences or would they strive for more control over their own lives? Mitch thought they would more than likely opt for the former approach. Having experienced a life of deprivation they would go for the option that ensured a life of security and full bellies and to hell with anything else. Mitch couldn't find it in himself to blame them and thought it would be rather interesting to see how they mixed with the Aotearoians most of whom had never experienced such privatisation.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-45300741624017626842013-04-05T23:54:00.000-07:002013-04-05T23:54:55.171-07:00The Skid Chronicles Part 2............here comes the Skid Chronicles Part 2<br /><br /><b>Synopsis</b><br /><h1 style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 14.2pt; margin-top: 6.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;"><o:p></o:p></h1><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">The Skid Chronicles Part 2 follows on from the first novel in the series where our unlikely protagonists were kidnapped by a team from the Planet Skid on a mission to locate expertise to assist them in developing alternative food sources to feed their people as the planet’s synthetic food production systems began to fail.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">T</span>he Skidian team selected a team of experts at random without really understanding the expertise that they required to achieve their objectives. More by good luck than good management they had found in their random and unscientific search someone who could generate new food production systems in the form of Kiwi style grasslands based farm, station or ranch. Unfortunately for the Skidians as the old earthly adage goes; ‘you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink,’ the enterprise eventually failed because not enough Skidians wanted to get their hands dirty.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">Since the inception of modern Skid as it was at that point in time; the most sophisticated and powerful civilisation in the known universe, the concept of having to actually do anything remotely connected to work for most Skidians was unknown and hundreds of millions of Skidians had been governed by a small group of hereditary rulers who didn’t brook any change to the status quo.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">The alternative systems developed by the offworld experts would inevitably lead to the transformation of Skid as it was known and the fracturing of Skidian society. Faced with a choice between maintaining the Skidian Way and perhaps saving a good number of Skidians from certain death, the hereditary rulers chose the former and hoped for a miracle to deliver them from mass starvation and the end of the Skid as they knew it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">To make matters worse the artificial intelligence that monitored all the systems that kept the population fed, housed, and watered was experiencing its own difficulties.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-NZ;">This second novel deals with the aftermath of the breakdown in food supplies. The offworlders have been returned home after undergoing a partially successful memory wipe and Skid is slowly recovering from the disaster that all but destroyed the most powerful and sophisticated civilisation known in the known universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-3194236449379224982013-04-05T15:12:00.002-07:002013-04-05T15:13:54.465-07:00The second coming and learning more......My foray into self publishing is kicking along in fit and starts. I have written press releases, signed up to tweeting services and the like but I have still managed to sell more books by various forms of coercion. This isn't going to do me much good in the long term.<br /><br />I still have a few ideas up my sleeve once I have book two complete but one method that I have started to employ in my personal dealings is; well if you want me to buy that big ticket item (the car) or change my mortgage financing, you need to go to this link and buy my book. This seems to work with a degree of success, though there are far too many people who have promised to buy my book and have yet to do so.<br /><br />But I have made a few unsolicited sales to people that do know me or are acquainted in some way. Their comments and feedback indicate that I do have a readable product that people Will enjoy. Phew.<br /><br />This just reinforces in my mind that if you have a good product and have provided the product or service that you say you do then this is a far better form of advertising than any spend unless you have shitloads of money to spend on big bucks advertising. Word of mouth is extremely important. This is truth is just as true in my personal marketing strategy as it is in my day job.<br /><br />Just a reminder to those people that do know me; don't bother coming to me with a raffle ticket or sponsorship request unless you have bought my book. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS">Here</a><br /><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-50310092857046181082013-03-15T17:12:00.001-07:002013-03-15T17:17:09.816-07:00My solution to traffic congestion..this is not an add...This morning as I drove along the motorway I fell in love with cruise control. You'd think that at the ripe old age of almost fifty one I would be completely familiar with this functionality. But the truth is my new ute is the first vehicle I have ever owned that has cruise control.<br /><br />For years I was quite satisfied with my late model Toyota Hiace vans until I decided on a changes and bought a ute two years ago.And cruise control? An effete option and besides why would you have it on a vehicle in this country anyway as we don't have the long straight highways that would make it worthwhile to have?<br /><br />There was nothing wrong with the ute, it was a major improvement on the van in terms of ride comfort and safety, but it was really a bit rough around the edges in comparison to a car.<br /><br />Enter the new model utes now on the market from all the main manufacturers over the last year or so and the the change in the ute market and the change in the expectations of many of the people that buy them. Just as many people buy them as their daily transport or to transport their toys around (like me) as do the businesses, farmers and tradesmen.<br /><br /> Ok they are still small trucks and they drive like trucks but they have a lot more of the standard options that you would expect in a decent car and the new one is simply a quantum leap ahead over the old ute.<br /><br />Roll forward to a month or so ago. I had been debating for ages whether to upgrade. I really agonise over this kind of decision. It's not about whether I have the money but whether I should spend it. You know the arguments. Sinking money into a new vehicle is a waste and yeah I could have paid the cash I put into a new vehicle off my mortgage but....... For me being able to buy new vehicles is a sign of success in my day job and I enjoy the new vehicle smell. No doubt my attitude would be a bit different if I wasn't lucky enough to qualify for a fleet discount which takes some of the pain away.<br /><br />Fast forward to rolling down the motorway this fine Saturday morning in light traffic. One click and flick of a switch and there I am cruising along at 102 kilometres an hour. Assuming that my speedo is accurate I suddenly realised how slow the traffic flow really generally is even when there are very few cars on the road.<br /><br />Make cruise control mandatory I say and maybe we wouldn't have so many bottle necks caused by people meandering along at low speeds on our motorways.<br />To easy right?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CJdTRA-m5Ss/UUO4fErLOOI/AAAAAAAADGs/eP0jqC5ev44/s1600/New+Ute.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CJdTRA-m5Ss/UUO4fErLOOI/AAAAAAAADGs/eP0jqC5ev44/s320/New+Ute.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br />Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-77610850946796853642013-03-09T18:18:00.000-08:002013-03-09T18:18:39.583-08:00The Skid Chronicles Part 2<br /> Excerpt form the The Skid Chronicles part 2<br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bruce wondered why he had never thought of hijacking one of the patrol ships before as piloting one was just like playing on a virtual flight trainer game on the internet. He blissfully ignored the fact that he would never have got even close to one of them previously. He also ignored the probability that even if he had got aboard he would just as likely have blown the space port and himself to bits rather than getting off the ground, let alone managing to get back to earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Myfair had shown him what most of the controls did, showed him how to set a course to anywhere on Skid and back to earth, but nowhere else. Myfair had also suggested that he not fiddle with various knobs and buttons on one side of the console in a most un-Skidlike manner. This was like a red rag to a bull to Bruce who suspected they must control the ships weapons systems and he itched for a suitable target and an opportunity to test them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bruce enjoyed piloting the space craft, though he was looking forward to seeing what had become of his farm even more. The farm that he had hewn from the landscape just like his ancestors had hacked their’s out of the bush. He conveniently forgot about the huge trees that his pioneering ancestors had had to deal with, with nothing more than an axe and a pit saw and the years of superhuman struggle they’d had to break in the farm. Bruce felt as if he was coming home after a long trip away, which after he thought about it for a moment was quite odd. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Odd because not so long ago he hated the place, hated the planet and the people that inhabited it and yearned for the real home that he thought he would never see again. Now he felt some sort of proprietary interest in what was happening there as if it was his and not the property of those that lived there. He wondered if he would feel the same way if he ever got back to his real home again. He thought about that possibility for a moment and found to his surprise that going home or not going home didn't seem to mean as much to him as he believed it once had. All he had always wanted was embodied in the baby that Sue held, and well maybe in Sue herself although he wasn’t all that sure about that yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bruce shook his head in disbelief. It was as if whatever emotional bonds he had developed for the place he had grown up and bound him there had been shattered. If he did ever go back home to earth his homecoming would certainly be different. While his absence had not been missed before, this time his departure had been far more public and would be hard to hide. He was also determined that if he did return to earth it would be in full control over his memories.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">It wasn't hard to conjure up a vision of Trev being grilled by the thought police, or of Mrs Pratt who must be having a hard time explaining the disappearance of little Bruce to the cops and the gun she toted.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">As the space ship sped over the vast empty Skidian plain Bruce caught sight of the meandering line of trees that marked the river beside which he had built his home on Skid, more correctly the house that had been built for him. He thought he recognized the line of low hills close to the farm and looked around nervously for Myfair because despite his new found confidence in piloting the craft he wasn’t actually sure of the procedure for landing the spaceship.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">How<i>did </i>you land these things? He wondered. He needn't have worried. As the patrol craft skimmed over the trees the farm came into view and after making a circuit of the farm it descended, slowed and landed gently beside the barn without any input from Bruce who was left wondering whether he had actually been in control at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">During the circuit Bruce had seen people running towards the house from various points about the farm and wondered why they would do that. None of them had turned up where the craft had landed, though as he walked down the ramp behind Myfair he could see some Skidians looking down the hill at them. That struck him as a little strange. But he was more interested in the farm which from the air looked much as he'd left it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Looking around Bruce wasn't so sure as he looked closer. The garden they had so carefully planted and tended now looked like a wilderness and the fence around it sagged as if something had tried to jump over it and landed on top of it instead. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bruce wrinkled his nose distastefully, the place had an air of sad neglect, like a rental house, where nobody really cared about the place because it wasn't their's and it showed in the rank grass, the sagging gates and the tools and chairs left discarded about the yard.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The dogs ran out of the space ship behind them and reacquainted themselves with their old stamping ground as Sue carry the baby and Bruce followed Myfair up the hill towards the house.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mitch stood indecisively at the door of the space ship and looked out. Nobody had told him to do anything so he wasn’t sure what he should be doing and he was not used to alighting from an aircraft without a military salute to acknowledge and a red carpet to stride purposefully down. Should he follow the others or stay put? He asked himself. He could see some people peering down the hill at them and wasn't sure whether they were friendly or not. They didn't look too happy. Some looked as if they were brandishing objects that looked very much like weapons. His old fear of open spaces made him feel giddy and he teetered on the threshold wondering if he was going to faint. He reached out a hand to support himself in the doorway and told himself to pull together. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The real fear of being left behind overrode the other conflicting emotions in Mitch’s mind and he made a move to follow the other three. The door closing behind him as he stepped out of the spaceship made the decision final. He trotted off after the others as fast as his out of condition body would allow him and came abreast of them puffing and coughing wondering if he had the energy to make the climb the rest of the way up the hill.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 14.2pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Myfair recognized most of the people standing on the hill and saw them relax as soon as they realized who it was alighting from the patrol ship. Perhaps they’ve had other less welcome visitors he decided, wandering bands of desperate Skidians looking for food and shelter or maybe more formidable, more demanding visitors from the better appointed industrial complexes. Maybe the likes of Mischief had learnt of his absence and decided to test the limits of their power.<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-3246175197035398592013-02-16T16:24:00.001-08:002013-02-16T16:25:09.789-08:00The view from the other side.......what if?In the last few days planet earth had a close encounter with asteroid 2012DA14. The asteroid was so close that it was actually inside the orbit of some of the satellites swinging around our planet. Pretty close, but all the experts seemed pretty relaxed about it all. I guess there's not a whole lot anyone could do Bruce Willis included, if it was likely to hit us and there was no need to spread any more panic and uncertainty than was neccessary. The twittersphere and other social media was doing a good job of that already.<br /><br />Unfortunately and coincidentally a meteor shower created widespread damage and panic in central Russia at more or less the same time. While there appears to have been widespread damage, luckily there have been few injuries and no fatalities. I say unfortunately because of course we all draw the dots-the two events must be connected. Apparently not. The meteor shower and asteroid approached us from different directions.<br /><br />Apart from a reminder about just how vulnerable life as we know it is on this planet in terms of how would we, or even could we, divert a large life threatening asteroid aimed straight at us I did wonder if there is an alternative view to this story.<br /><br />Imagine the headlines beamed home from a space craft piggybacking on the asteroid as it cruises by on its journey of exploration.<br /><br />We are not alone! And then; Life discovered in galactic backwater! Primitive civilisation discovered by pioneering space mission. Research probes dropped over major landmass.<br /><br />Backup contact mission already planned. Potential resource windfall, riches await for intrepid exploreres. Boost to economy predicted.<br /><br />All attempts at communication failed.<br /><br />Initial reports suggest a low level of technology, no evidence of space travel beyond their own system. The people of this world pose no threat to us in the foreseeable future<br /><br />If they are out there I wonder what they think of us for surely we aren't really alone in the universe?<br /><br />And no Mr Zhirinovsky<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Calibri, Candara, Segoe, Segoe UI, Optima, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;"> i</span></span>t wasn't the Americans testing a new weapon.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-24027748426245631392013-02-09T21:03:00.002-08:002013-02-09T21:03:56.488-08:00What I have learnt about Indie book promotion... part 2 What have I learnt? Obviously not enough. Think I might as well watch the cricket.Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-46251626194628236292013-01-26T23:39:00.000-08:002013-01-27T00:24:45.751-08:00What I have learnt about Indie book promotion... While I am busy pecking away at the second novel in the Skid Chronicles series I have also been looking at how to widen my readership for the first book in the series and make my fortune. Yeah right. Making a living at this would be great but I am not about to give up my day job.<br /><br />I've tried quite a few things to sell copies of my first novel and get a few good reviews on Amazon as that is the key it seems to me-good 5 star reviews. I have twisted people's arms and basically told them to buy my $0.99 novel and write me a good review. This tack has had limited success even when I have offered to give people a dollar as there are far more people that have said to my face that they will download the Kindle version or buy the hard copy than have actually done so. Amazon has pretty good reporting. Clearly I haven't twisted enough arms hard enough.<br /><br />I have also tried Google Adwords and Facebook adds to no avail, admittedly I can only send people to the Amazon pages via my still dirtbike themed website. Note to self....spend some time on developing a new page. It might help.<br /><br />All I can say is that I am pleased I tried this avenue but didn't spend too much money in this area. I did spend a chunk of cash on 't' shirts that I mostly gave away that apart from my wife to be I don't believe anyone actually wears. If you want one drop me line.<br /><br />I've created a Twitter account along with all those other people who create accounts to self promote their product or service. But Twitter is a bit like Facebook, just because you have 'friends' doesn't mean they are going to read your posts and even if they do, it doesn't mean this is going to translate into any sales.<br /><br />My latest scheme as per all the reading I have done is to generate a media release for the book. Now I just need to find out where to send it. I have never felt comfortable with self promotion and rejection but my skin is getting thicker so maybe I will just send it too as many people as possible. The good old shotgun approach.<br /><br />Finally all the good blogs and websites say that all I have to do is create is a community of interest and I'll become an instant online best seller and make my fortune.<br /><br />So if anyone actually reads this blog and wants to become part of my community you can join me on <a href="http://facebook.com/Keithfenwick11">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithFenwick11">Twitter</a>-I promise not to twist your arm. But in case you have forgotten here is the link to the book......<a href="http://amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS">amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS</a><br /><br />Actually mostly what I have learnt is that there is plenty of good reading out there and at the end of the day nothing much has changed in the world of publishing. While we can do a lot of things to promote our masterpieces and be successfull at it (in an ideal world successfull for me would be making my living out of writing) at the end of the day luck and being in the right place at the right time has a lot to do with it.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />.Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-24127263063382774642013-01-26T21:20:00.002-08:002013-01-26T21:23:53.121-08:00<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><b>My first Press Release</b></span><br /><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Contact:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Keith Fenwick<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">PO Box 90312<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Victoria St West<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Auckland<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">0272066091<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="mailto:fenwickk@vodafone.co.nz">fenwickk@vodafone.co.nz</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">New Zealand Author Publishes Sci Fi Novel on Amazon Kindle <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Auckland NZ, January 29 2013 – New Zealand author, Keith Fenwick, recently released a science fiction novel, <i>Skid - The First Chronicle</i>, the first novel of a science fiction trilogy. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">In his first novel<i> “Skid - The First Chronicle Skid” </i>Keith Fenwick takes us to a highly sophisticated world where society is about to fall apart. A world whose leader’s arrogantly assume that they can do no wrong in the face of the dangerous signs of a disintegrating world around them. A disintegration caused by a failing in the technology that for so long has made them undisputed masters of the known universe. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Readers will immediately recognize the parallels with life as we know it on earth today as we struggle with the implications of climate change on our world and our lifestyles.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The plot addresses some serious themes, touching on issues as wide as the survival of any planet in the universe - from pollution, to the exploitation of natural resources - the pros and cons of collective versus individual action - organic versus synthetic food - survival with humor versus the alienating aspects of a form of political correctness. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The use of humor makes the book work effectively - mainly through the reactions of the "offworlders", Bruce (from New Zealand) and Sue (from the USA). Both Bruce and Sue react in stereotypical ways as caricatures of the cultures they come from - the skillful and amusing portrayal of their characteristics allows readers to laugh at their own attitudes. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Unlike many science fiction books, skid doesn't get bogged down in detail or stray so far from known worlds that you lose the plot. Aficionados of science fiction and anyone who enjoys a good read will enjoy this novel.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is Keith Fenwick’s first novel.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Contact details for Keith Fenwick<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Phone Keith: (064) 0272 066 091<o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Email Keith: <a href="mailto:fenwickk@vodafone.co.nz">fenwickk@vodafone.co.nz</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Kindle version <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS">http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Print version <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skid-The-tasting-plant-Volume-1/dp/1479378844">http://www.amazon.com/Skid-The-tasting-plant-Volume-1/dp/1479378844</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Catch up with Keith at his blog <a href="http://dirtsdiary.blogspot.co.nz/">http://dirtsdiary.blogspot.co.nz/</a><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Reviews</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">.....I found this book to be a great read. Part Space Opera, part satire, this is a very kiwi novel in many respects. It takes really earthly themes like our preoccupation with sustainability and the exploitation of diminishing resources and combines these with the apparent inability of a super alien society to deal with the change required to accommodate this. Whole the novel is somewhat predictable it is entertaining and worth a read.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">.....A clever allegory and an engaging read…….<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Interesting and easy to read. Keith keeps the suspense through rich descriptions and engaging conversations. Themes of environmental awareness and spiritual discoveries are especially relevant to today's Western culture. The allegory of technically advanced but spiritually poor aliens that lack a purpose in life keep reminding you of people you meet in everyday life. The everyday familiarity in a science fiction setting makes this book stand out.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">.....This is a very easy book to read. I loved the hero with his local New Zealand connection and "all will be right" attitude.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">.....A very good read - if you like a bit of science fiction.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">If you read between the lines or look a little deeper into the story it is not far from current happenings today.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">.....The two main characters are easy to relate to for many who would read this book.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">And I think that being able to relate to these two makes the book so engaging and easy to read.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The story also gives you somethings to think about and touches on many of the problems faced in today's world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-45226971099716363382013-01-13T21:07:00.000-08:002013-01-27T00:27:44.137-08:00Unashamed self promotion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XVoe7zjl-AI/UQTk79z877I/AAAAAAAABZs/6Yeq-S3XK0g/s1600/tshirt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XVoe7zjl-AI/UQTk79z877I/AAAAAAAABZs/6Yeq-S3XK0g/s1600/tshirt.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br />The other day she who must be obeyed turned up at home wearing this 't' shirt. I was literally gobsmacked. Forget Adwords and Facebook adds and anything else you have to pay for here is the ultimate talking point.<br /><br />If nothing else the 2 or 300 hundred people who work in my building saw me coming today and hopefully I have shamed at least one or two of them into buying my book. We'll see. But I am this 't' shirt every Friday from now on.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS">The Book</a><br /><br />Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-2081615499967349792013-01-07T23:01:00.000-08:002013-01-07T23:01:05.011-08:00The first Skidian Chronicle<div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Skid is an imaginative science fiction novel of considerable skill that pokes fun at all forms of political correctness, while also indicating there are dangerous signs of a disintegrating world that is not adequately taken care of. Readers will recognise these as parallels to life on earth. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The plot addresses some serious themes, touching on issues as wide as the survival of any planet in the universe - from pollution, to the exploitation of natural resources - the pros and cons of collective versus individual action - organic versus synthetic food - survival with humour versus the alienating aspects of a form of political correctness. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The use of humour makes the book work effectively - mainly through the reactions of the "offworlders", Bruce (from New Zealand) and Sue (from the USA). Both Bruce and Sue react in stereotypical ways as caricatures of the cultures they come from - the skilful and amusing portrayal of their characteristics allows readers to laugh at their own attitudes. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Unlike many science fiction books, skid doesn't get bogged down in detail or stray so far from known worlds that you lose the plot. Aficionados of science fiction and anyone who enjoys a good read will enjoy this novel.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Chronicle-Skidian-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS">http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Chronicle-Skidian-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS</a><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-68684470285598192532012-10-06T20:56:00.001-07:002012-10-06T20:56:46.900-07:00Published at lastI have long been a frustrated author. Being a writer is something that I have always wanted to do. There is a literary bent in the family so I guess this isn't all that unusual.<br /><br />If I was being honest with myself the reason that I have never really pursued writing as a career option is a lack of confidence and drive. The started with being dissuaded from a potential career as a journalist by well a well meaning but in hindsight incompetent careers advisor at school. She suggested I start an apprenticeship as a typesetter instead. Continued with family and friends telling me that I needed a real job, rejection and my own lack of confidence.<br /><br />This isn't to say that I haven't written, submitted work to publishers or even had a go at self publishing. When I might have given this a real go the realities of earning a living, mortgages and a need for some kind of financial security got in the way.<br /><br />Latterly I have been interested in playing with helmet cams and writing or even thinking about it hasn't been high on my list of priorities.<br /><br />Cue a life changing event, the end of a relationship that I thought was the real deal, a new relationship and the gift of a Kindle.<br /><br />Among other things the Kindle reinvigorated my interest in reading. I have been at times a voracious reader and have often probably withdrawn from the real world and into the world of print more often that I should have. Latterly I have become much more picky in my reading and loathe to spend money on books from authors that weren't on my personal safe list.<br /><br />The Kindle has changed all this and while I still buy from mainstream authors there are huge numbers of free or very cheap tittles available that I have entertained myself with. As I have sampled the good, bad and barely readable I came to the realisation that my work is at least as good if not better than some of the titles I was reading and in many cases paying for.<br /><br />Over the last several months I have dusted off, reviewed and honed one of my masterpieces and in the last week or so published it on Amazon.<br /><br />I know there are other platforms to use and maybe I will review them in time but Amazon is the industry standard for self publishing and once I had sorted out the formatting issues the process is painless.<br /><br />So read the book if you have the time and interest and if you do keep an eye out for the sequel that i am busy polishing and updating.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Skid-Tasting-plant-ebook/dp/B009FIAMXS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1349580497&sr=8-4&keywords=tasting+of+the+plant">Kindle version</a> or <a href="https://www.createspace.com/4006177">Buy a hard copy version</a><br /><br />Brrrp - now I need to check the bike out because I haven't ridden it in months.......<br /><br /><br />Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-57597878759336605002012-06-16T18:52:00.000-07:002012-06-16T18:52:03.962-07:00What a difference a year makes<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a difference a year makes. This time last year I was desperately unhappy and couldn't really pin down as to why this would be because outwardly things were pretty good in my life. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently one of my work colleagues described how some of her employees were feeling after flipping out at work in Christchurch.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a feeling that something is just wrong and they can't explain why. Not surprising when you are living in a city where the ground is likely to move underneath you at any time. Where your house might be damaged and you have an interminable wait for repairs, or it has extra ventilation and is impossible to keep warm. Where everywhere you look there are signs of damage that will take years to put right even if your own home is more or less ok. Or you might have to move out of your house and you don't know where to go and what to do next</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sat in an office on Friday close to the Christchurch Airport wondering if each rattle of the windows or roar of jet engine winding up was an more earthly rattle. A little on edge all that time and counting down the hours until I was due to fly out. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I understand and when she explained how these people were feeling it seemed to encapsulate just how I had been feeling for such a long time.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> A sense of impending doom. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Something was wrong and when I did find out why I felt that way it seemed that the end of the world had come.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course it hadn't, though it seemed that way at the time. Today I am much happier, happier than I can remember being for many years. Because it isn't the end of the world when a relationship ends when your partner decides that the grass is greener over the fence. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite how I felt at the time, that the world had passed me by and I had wasted a chunk of my life on someone who then proceeded to look elsewhere, that I would never know love in my life again, my world is a far better place today.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The emotional trauma of the last part of 2011 has left me a much stronger and rounded as a person that is reflected in my work as well as my personal life and especially in my relationships with people.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although I wouldn't wish a relationship breakdown to my worst enemy there are upsides if you emerge from the darkside, not least the new good woman in my life.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Nso2gffVwG0" width="560"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-22344630781529431102011-12-12T22:16:00.000-08:002012-01-05T14:34:15.384-08:00Moving on<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As time goes by the pain of my relationship break up is receding and I can start to be a bit more honest about my own feelings. I wasn't all that happy myself and thinking I could have and should have done better in my relationship selections. To cut a long story short I had begun to realize the ex wasn't all that I really wanted out of partner.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I mull over the events of the last few months before we broke up I guess she felt the same. Where I just accepted the way things were because I thought we had a good life and while the passion had somehow gone from our relationship I thought we were happy together. However, somewhere along the line she had decided to move on.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hard thing of course in getting over it all and realizing that despite the really dumb and questionable relationship she appears to have got herself into she ain't coming back and I don't really want her to.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But that is not entirely true of course. Despite the fact that I am better off without her and the compromises I thought I had made and her selfishness I still think about her all the time. I am finding it hard to let go while knowing I need to for the sake of my sanity.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so we move on partly getting over it, partly not when we have fleeting snippets of contact, getting into new relationships. This includes putting to bed any thoughts of a need for chemical help to get it up to enjoy a fulfilling sexual relationship bar a few beers which had been a worry as our sex life hadn't been all that great for some time. Clearly, as it turns out I need more more from a partner than a mechanical and passionless acceptance on her part.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But still the pain is not totally gone, and until it does, the longing, sometimes despair and grief will overshadow any further relationships. The baggage that people talk about. Well we all have baggage, the ghosts of relationships past. In some ways this baggage is character building but it is still a tough time.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tough too hide from the new lady in my life who has her own baggage. Hopefully time will heal the wounds and to be fair it is really only a few short months since this all went down. But starting over is hard and as old age approaches there is always the fear of growing old alone.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This in part has driven me to start all over again in the hope of finding the perfect or more or less perfect mate but in the back of my mind there is always the fear that she was the one and she has forsaken me and there is no hope. </span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I need to look to the future. 2011 was the worst year of my life and I live in hope that 2012 will be much better. Despite my current fit of melancholy it has started off with a hiss and a roar. My Christmas and New Year was much happier than I would have believed possible just a few months ago and may that trend continue.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-34765173774793809712011-12-02T17:27:00.000-08:002011-12-10T15:26:23.821-08:00Online dating - moving on<span class="Apple-style-span">My previous post outlined the recent breakup of the key relationship in my life. The hardest thing to come to terms with, and in truth I haven't yet fully come to terms with the fact that it has ended and there is no turning the clock back.</span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"> The other thing to deal with is that the ex was already well down the path of moving on when I found out about it all. She had already made plans and they didn't include me despite that fact that she had no intention of moving out or actually leaving until the stars were aligned in her favour. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">While I was hoping for reconciliation she was already committing the ultimate deception and it was only by chance that I found out. Lies piled on lies and then you immediately start to question the entire relationship. Had this happened before? Probably despite her denials.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">The best bit of advice that I had was to move one and do the stuff I wanted to do. So I did. I think it was a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">surprise</span> to the ex that I decided to stay in the house. Apart from anything else I couldn't bear the thought of packing up all my gear and moving. I'll have to do it eventually but not yet.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">The next thing I did was get the legal side of the separation rolling. I explained that if we did get back together this wouldn't matter but it was clear that this wasn't likely to happen. I don't know what she was thinking or where her head was but she had it in her mind that we could just agree to part and when house prices came back we could sort out our affairs. Don't you trust me? Yeah right. Best to get things sorted as soon as possible before positions harden.First piece of good advice I got from my lawyer.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">The next piece of advice I got was to stay away from online dating sites for while. Just chill out and do the stuff you like doing and take things as they come. </span><span class="Apple-style-span">I have to say that in hindsight that is pretty good advice. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">But oops I'd already started and I have had some pretty interesting experiences. </span><span class="Apple-style-span"> I was determined not to rest on my laurels and try new stuff and get out of my comfort zone. I could easily just sit here at home and get bitter and depressed.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">So I created a profile and waited for the results. The first few dates were interesting to say the least. It was a bit of a concern to me that I seemed to attract a certain type of woman. They were <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ok</span> but probably just as needy as I was at the time. Was there something wrong with my profile, was I too honest?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Then there were the women that in the flesh were a bit different to what their profile said. In my mind there is a difference between a little white lie than outright deception. The profiles in themselves are interesting as well. Is there such a thing as a perfect bloke? Some of them have pretty high expectations.No wonder their profiles seem to remain on the site when others disappear never to be seen again.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Then there was the date where we seemed to click and got in like a house on fire until the night she told me that she was allergic to most of the food we had eaten together and that she shouldn't be drinking the wine I had just bought. She said she need to detox for a few months. The detoxing process apparently included me as well because that was the last time I saw or heard from her. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Not even a courtesy I have found someone else which is what I expect happened. I thought that was a bit rude. She was a nice enough woman and I enjoyed our time together but I didn't see myself living with her for the rest of our days. maybe she sensed that.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">I now understand how baggage from previous relationships can affect new ones even when you think you are over it or at least think you can hide the impact on your emotions. What amuses me is that sometimes it appears to me that the woman who are telling me that I am still not over the ex are probably carting about more baggage than I am. Why do they start these conversations otherwise? So when people talk about baggage it is just not yours you need to be worried about.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">For the I have more or less given up on the idea of online dating for the moment. It is a fun way to meet people and I have done some different things and have some new places to go but it is quite an artificial world to meet a prospective partner but you never know your luck. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">The dates so far.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Date one nice Asian lady. We met almost immediately, in fact we met several times but it soon dawned on me that she was in worse shape than I was. In fact I doubt that in her middle forties she had ever had a long term relation ship of more than a few months. I felt sorry for her but not sorry enough to go on seeing her. I am sure that I was probably just what she was looking for but she wasn't right for me in more ways than one. Her colloquial english was poor and she was quite selfish in some ways. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Date two. Nice but weirdly pretentious Russian lady. First date seemed to go fine and we arranged to meet the next day. Texted a couple of times the next day. No response. She might not have been quite what she presented herself as.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Date three.I knew this one was a bit dodgy the first time I spoke to her but thought what the hell lets give it a go. My first impression was confirmed when she suggested that we meet at a local bakery chain cafe. The meeting just confirmed the gut feeling I had developed and her wall eye was the clincher.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Date four. We immediately hit it off and spent quite a bit of time together over the next month or so. This is the lady with the food allergies and the odd pretentious smile and who didn't didn't make contact all of a sudden when things seemed to be going so well. Maybe she was just using me to fill a gap in the same way I was using her and moved onto someone better. I knew she wasn't right for me the first time I went to her apartment and discovered a lap dog in the house. I can't stand having a dog inside. Worse still when she took the thing for a walk she didn't put it on a lead and seemed to think that is was ok for it to roam around and annoy people at will. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Date five. This one was probably the worst of the lot and I couldn't wait to get away. She was just weird and didn't make any attempt to present herself very well.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Date six. The phone has just beeped. A text from her I am guessing. Another very nice lady but very intense. She seemed to think I was the one from the first date and after just a few weeks wants some kind of exclusivity. I am not so sure myself but am keen enough to remove my profile from the dating site to show some kind of commitment. Of all of them she seems to be the most interested in my past life and talks about me not being ready yet. Maybe number four thought this as well but she never said much about it. I suspect that both of them have just as much baggage from previous relationships as I do: if not more. Unbidden the most amazing things pop out at times and like all woman they seem content to construe the most incredible inferences from a simple grunt.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">And me, well I have learn't a few things as well.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-79082833706154077752011-11-27T22:21:00.000-08:002011-12-03T22:15:49.266-08:00The Breakup<span class="Apple-style-span">The last time I wrote in here I was reasonably secure in my relationship with the other half or so I thought. How wrong I was. </span><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">I thought she was away at a weekend with a new special friend, how wrong, well how right I was in some ways. She came home from a weekend with her new girlfriend to tell me that she was unhappy. What I didn't know at that point was that our relationship was effectively over. Being unhappy was her way of telling me that she had already moved on. Clearly in hindsight she hadn't just been with her new girlfriend.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">I was unhappy too. I put it down to frustration at work but in hindsight I wasn't happy at the way things were going either but not so unhappy that I wanted to end the relationship. Both of us should have talked about this I guess and it is far too late now.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Then I started to unravel the layers of deceit and lies and the brazenness with which the new relationship had been developing in front of me. Of course the situation was by no means unique but it always feels worse when it happens to you. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">She even told me the new guys name so in this age of social media it wasn't hard to find out a few things about him. Despite myself, as this was a really low point in my life, I said to myself. 'What the hell have you done you silly woman.' If you thought that the age difference between <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Demi</span> Moore and Ashton <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Kutcher</span> was unsustainable as has recently been proved right then this new relationship has no chance and is doomed to fail. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">I console myself that at some point in time you can just about guarantee that one of both of them are going to wake up one morning in the not too distant future and go 'what the fuck have I done?'</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">But then a fifty something woman's hormones and puppy love by some needy emotionally immature man roughly the same age as her kids looking for a shoulder to cry on as his own relationship breaks down probably make them impervious to the simple realities of such a relationship. Once these things get rolling they have an inertia all of their own which is hard to stop. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">But for the ex when this happens there is a double whammy as she has chosen to move to the other end of the country and a new job. What is going to happen if and when the relationship fails and she is in a new city with no friends and family close by and potentially nowhere to live?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Unfortunately for the ex, the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">GFC</span> and a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">prenup</span> agreement meant that where she might have expected a bit of a windfall to start her new life there wasn't much to share and I have ended up with the house that she loved and a lot of the gear we accumulated together while she packed up her belongings in a few boxes and left with little to show for our life together.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">This might be a source of bitterness in the future if it isn't already. I suspect that in some ways a little guilt on her part meant that she settled for a lot less than she should have in terms of what she took with her.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">But life moves on for both of us and I still have my toys and I am enjoying them still.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qZ0rgdfhr5s" width="560"></iframe></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">So what to do next? Once the hurt started to fade.Too soon in hindsight, I joined an online dating web site. One part of my planned rehabilitation was to get back in the saddle as it were as soon as possible.Not just to find a new love of my life but to get out and meet new people and do new stuff.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">In some respects this has been successful, in others not so.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-30091981605764401382011-07-29T00:11:00.000-07:002011-07-29T02:14:24.768-07:00American Extremism<span class="Apple-style-span" >Next year I'll be the big 50. When I was growing up WW2 still loomed large in the general consciousness and most men that I came across as a kid that were my age now had been involved in the armed forces.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Also fresh in people's minds was that the British Empire wasn't able to protect us when the Japanese entered the war to make it a truly global cataclysm and stormed across the Pacific headed in this general direction.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Luckily for us Japan miscalculated and bombed Pearl Harbour which led to America entering the war and to cut a long story short provided the industrial might and manpower to vanquish both foes. From that point on we looked to America for leadership in many respects, maybe not because we really wanted to but because they were the big guys in our backyard. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Since WW2 the US has promoted itself as the leader of the free world and </span><span class="Apple-style-span">gone into bat for us against the red menace and more latterly against Islamic fundamentalists. But somewhere along the line America has lost it's way, and whatever they do on the world stage seems to more about self interest than anything morally <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">altruistic</span>.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >And when I say 'they' I really mean that small extremely wealthy and powerful group of corporations and individuals that are pulling the strings in the background. The kind of people that drive an invasion of an oil rich desert nation to secure future oil supplies but badly miscalculate the impact of their actions that cost more than any potential return. There is a bit more involved in running a country than running a corporation, no matter how large and powerful. Despite what the right wing <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ideologues</span> would have us believe the playing field is never equal.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >From and outsiders point of view, this in a nutshell is what is what is wrong with America, something brought into stark relief as we watch the intense partisan debate about the debt ceiling.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >There seems to be no middle ground in this debate, extremists on both sides are driving fringe ideologies that in the long term are unsustainable and are self destructive in the name of short term gain. Think the Taliban, think Southern Koran burning Baptists. These people are not representative of their religions-they are completely deluded. Unfortunately they have the ability to inflict widespread hardship and pain on the innocent.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >While Americans might think that the debate over their economy is all about them, the rest of us are left to count the cost of bitter ideological battles by the lunatic fringes of the most powerful single economy on the planet. While the American congress and senate fiddle while Washington burns my mortgage rates go up.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >The best thing that could happen is that the US 'defaults' on its obligations and collectively the American people revolt against extremist ideology when they next have a chance and vote for more responsible government. Vote for less costly militarism, everyone paying their fair share of the cost of running the economy-and yes that means business paying their fair share and living with some pain when entitlements are cut.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Pigs might fly but not in my lifetime. But in my lifetime I fully expect America to wane as a world military and economic power. I hope I survive the transition</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-50396523595929123102011-02-18T22:31:00.000-08:002011-02-19T16:10:00.723-08:00Eating well out West<span class="Apple-style-span" >We are eating out again and eating well out West. I get a hard time for living out west - some of it from people who live in one of those flash suburbs out East, places like <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Otara</span> East. People in glass houses should not throw stones I reckon.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Whatever anyone says about the west and the perception that we are all black T shirt wearing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">bogans</span> or our woman all have hairy legs and wear vegetarian fibre cardies there are actually some pretty decent places to eat and drink out this way. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Historically the wine industry in this part of the world was kick started by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Dalmation</span> immigrants once they had retired from the gum fields. The story goes that they couldn't stand the slop the my ancestors were drinking and started to grow grapes. Most likely the guys that started growing grapes around here were too clever to get involved in shagging around with their gumboots getting full of mud in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">gumfields</span> in the first place. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; ">Tony's was established almost 30 years ago in Henderson-one of the first if not the first decent eatery in this part of the world. In recognition of the legacy of vineyards in the area Tony's was originally known as Tony's Vineyard <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Restaurant</span>.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >While it is a bit rustic and looking a bit tired Tony's seems to be quite popular with the locals. The reason being they stick to their knotting and and do a decent basic steak meal. The service is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">ok</span>, though we had to wait a while for our first drink order. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Since </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; ">the last time were there the menu has been upgraded but the basics of a good big steak remain. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Always a good place for a feed but for some reason last <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">night</span> we both felt a bit rushed though we both left feeling extremely full and satisfied.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Where?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" >Edsel Street, Henderson</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><a href="http://www.tonysrestaurant.co.nz/profile.html">Tony's Vineyard <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Restaurant</span></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><div><div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></p></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div></div>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1311613987391083980.post-83047617245959828402011-02-18T17:03:00.001-08:002011-02-19T22:05:37.962-08:00Eating out on Waiheke<span class="Apple-style-span">Last weekend we spent a few days on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Waiheke</span> Island. It has been years since I had been to the island and even longer since I had stayed so I was looking forward to it. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Waiheke</span> is an interesting place, full of people who think that they are interesting and a playground for the rich, famous and infamous. None of which are we. The real natives of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Waiheke</span> must breathe a huge sigh of relief when the best part of the summer is over and they can reclaim their island from the hordes of daily sightseers and holiday makers like us.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">But I digress, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Waiheke</span> has a reputation for being a trendy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">greenie</span> type place to be, a more upmarket version of wild west Auckland and far more accessible than <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Coromandel</span>. While she who must be obeyed (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">SWMBO</span>) was interested in checking out some of the arty <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">farty</span> stuff and wanted a photo of herself outside the various wineries I was more interested in feeding the inner man and making sure that I had a beer for lunch.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">BTW whatever I tell <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">SWMBO</span> I'd really rather be riding!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="320" height="260" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0RbAPJ1Ni0g" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">We sampled a few eating establishments and I guess like anywhere there were some great places to eat that we would certainly return too and others that we would give a wide berth.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">To be fair generally the food was great but the service in some of the establishments left a bit to be desired, not quite what I was expecting in an upmarket tourist trap. It is not a good look if you get 'forgotten' and your waitress can't speak <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">english</span>. What is the world coming to when you can't at least be served in a restaurant in your own country by someone who speaks more or less the the same lingo as you?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">First stop was the <a href="http://www.nourish.co.nz/">Nourish bar</a> and cafe in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Ostend</span> for a late lunch. The food was good and I tried one of the locally produced beers - <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Baroona</span>. This was a nice we drop but I noticed that it had a use by label for later in the week. I pointed this out to the the waitress and ordered another one to help them run down their old stock.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Later in the day we wandered into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Oneroa</span> and had dinner at <a href="http://www.151oceanview.co.nz/">151 Ocean View</a>. Why <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">SWMBO</span> took us to a fish restaurant when she doesn't eat fish is beyond me. Their fish of the day was fabulous and the service was great. The sea gulls seemed well behaved and when we went past the next afternoon the deck was full of diners - always a good sign.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">We rented a car for one day to get us about the countryside but we didn't make as much use of it as we could have as I had rather a boozy elevenses at <a href="http://www.charliefarleys.co.nz/">Charley Farley's</a>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">SWMBO</span> doesn't like driving on narrow gravel roads so we didn't get out to the far end of the island and I wasn't going to drive was I? The old tractor outside is a nice touch and seemed to intrigue some of the tourists.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">We did however get far enough to find the <a href="http://www.thebeachfrontbarcafe.co.nz/">Beachfront Bar and Cafe</a> where <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">SWMBO</span> sampled the chicken <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">niblets</span> and was moved to compliment the chef on his prowess. Chicken <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">niblets</span> are her signature Friday night meal but they are not a patch on what came out of the kitchen at the Beachfront Bar and Cafe.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Our last evening meal was at the Vino Vino. We wanted to eat here because we had heard good things about the food. The food was good but what spoilt it a bit for us was that we had asked to sit out on the balcony when we booked only to find when we got there that the balcony had been booked for a 21st birthday party.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.vinovino.co.nz/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">VinoVino</span></a> is certainly the place to be by the clientele. I have never seen such a concentration of man bags in once place and was convinced that there must have been a fancy dress party up the road that most of the diners were off to afterwards. It wasn't that people were dressed in costumes so much but they were wearing the sort of gear that you'd wear to a party at Paris Hilton's Hampton pad. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Once again I helped the establishment get rid of their almost at use by use date <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Baroona's</span>. The only real problem with this place as the acoustics are terrible-talk about not being able to have a quiet romantic dinner Trev. Especially with some sort of boisterous hen party going happening at the next table.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">Finally, we had occasion to eat at a few other places but they are not worth a mention except one. Apart from the fact my bacon and eggs was a bit on the small side the best service by far we received was at the <a href="http://www.waikitchen.co.nz/functions.aspx"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">Wai</span> Kitchen</a>. I mention the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Wai</span> Kitchen as they have felt the sharp end of a NZ Herald staffer's pen after a bit of a mishap with his dinner. I was also intrigued by his comment about the lack of decent eating places in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Oneroa</span>. Clearly he is a lot harder to please than we are.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Keith Fenwickhttps://plus.google.com/100044821228651169673noreply@blogger.com0