Barbenheimer

The unforgettable (and terrifying) sight of a nuclear test from the 1950’s

Today is Monday July 10, 2023. Kia Ora! Mānawatia a Matariki!

There have been 5417 new cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand over the past week, and 21 further deaths. Of the new cases, 2547 were reinfections. The total number of deaths attributed to the virus in New Zealand is now 3159. In addition, there were 184 cases in hospital at midnight on Sunday with three in intensive care. The seven-day rolling average of cases was 771.

Last week, 6578 new Covid-19 cases were reported and a further 21 deaths were attributed to the virus.

It’s now Thursday July 13^th.

I haven’t written the last few days; I have to admit I’m quite unsettled since our lovely trip to Taiwan; I just want to go there again!  It’s been very cold here in the mornings and evenings, although most days we’ve had sunshine and warmth in the middle of the day. I am feeling the cold, although it looks as though we will get two heat pumps installed sometime soon, at last.  We’ve been arguing about just where they should go.  They have to be quiet, act as a dehumidifier, and be remote-controlled, so that we can turn one on when we’re on the new expressway driving back from Napier (or anywhere else, for that matter).

On Monday morning a dear friend came to have morning tea with us. On Tuesday we went out to have lunch at the French café at Eastbourne, Tartines. The weather wasn’t great, so it wasn’t much use going to a place with a view, since there’d be nothing much to see. It fined up here when we left, but it was raining in Eastbourne. JD hadn’t brought a jacket, so we didn’t go for a walk, or look at the Rona art gallery.  I had Quiche Lorraine with salad; JD had chicken in a creamy mushroom sauce and the lovely pommes frites. The servings were quite large, although there were mainly older folk there;  afterwards we shared a chocolate hazelnut tart with our oat milk lattés. It was nice to go there, but I doubt if I’d go again; it seemed to have changed hands since we were last there, for my birthday lunch, one time.  As we paid for our lunch I looked eagerly at the goods in the deli, but they were quite expensive.

On Wednesday I got up early to go to hymn singing; as tends to happen when one gets up extra early, one thinks one can get more things done, and consequently I was almost the last to arrive, although being school holidays there as little traffic. A highlight was our singing Arahina e Ihowa (Guide me o Thou Great Jehovah) to the beautiful Welsh tune Cym Rhonda.  I think we did rather well, although we’re by no means a Welsh choir.

Afterwards I met an old friend for coffee. It was lovely to see her, and we had a good chat.

This morning we went to a funeral at the new parish of St Francis of Assisi, formerly the Catholic Church of Sts Peter and Paul.  It was quite cold and windy; we parked in the Johnsonville Shopping Centre carpark and walked up to the church. Thankfully it was warm in the church.  The funeral was for a cousin of John’s father; i.e. JD’s first cousin once removed, although her youngest brother is someone he’s kept in touch with. Her younger sister had died exactly two years earlier, and we had gone to her funeral in Havelock North. It was nice to see family members again, and reminisce over ones who had passed on.  Afterwards JD and I went shopping at New World in Thorndon, and bought pies for lunch.

It’s now Monday July 17^th.

The weekly Covid 19 report is published again. There have been 4332 new cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand over the past week and 13 further deaths. Of the new cases, 2048 were reinfections. The total number of deaths attributed to the virus in New Zealand is now 3172.

As of midnight on Sunday, there were 185 cases in hospital, with four people in intensive care. The seven-day rolling average of new cases was 615.

It’s now Thursday July 20^th.

It’s been a busy old time. We are having new carpet laid upstairs (at last), and I’m trying to clear the way so that furniture can be moved. Thank goodness we’re not moving house (yet); I didn’t realise that I had so much stuff stored under chests of drawers, in the walk-in wardrobe, and in the cupboard under the stairs. I undertook to clear the master bedroom; I have put heaps of stuff in rubbish bags, labelled it, and put it in the hallway.  My husband’s solution is to put everything in the garage, which kind of defeats the purpose. One way or another, we each will have to leave this house someday, and I am determined to throw away as much as possible. While it’ll be nice (I hope) to have new carpet, I feel as though I’m on the point of divorce much of the time. I think JD severely underestimates how much needs to be tidied away or thrown away. For the last few years I thought I could do nothing about his mess, but try and keep a kind of spot for myself (and my things). Now I’ve lost several files of things that I really need right now.

I have also been endeavouring to empty two china cabinets. One of them is done, and what a mission that was. When we moved to this house, I didn’t pack things – I unpacked them.  It is really hard work, and I don’t want to break anything. With regard to the other cabinet, I’ve packed perhaps one and a half shelves; I’ll do the rest tomorrow.

There’s good news though: I have a specialist appointment at Wellington Hospital (I’ve been waiting six months); and ACC have agreed to reinstate my home help. Although I have to be assessed again to make sure that I’m really not going to get better.

This morning our Thursday singing resumed, and although there were very few sopranos (Yes, ladies, we can do this!); it was lovely to be there again.

It’s now Friday July 21^st.

Things got very busy yesterday, as the builders took up much of the existing carpet so that they could nail down the floorboards underneath (they creak sometimes).  I tried to wrap the china from the other china cabinet, all the time frustrated that I was very tired and JD was not doing his bit to help. Actually he did take all the wine glasses out and put them on the kitchen table, where I was planning to put something else.  When we came to eat our dinner, there was very little room for me to sit at the table (which is my preference).

After they left, we were left with an almost empty, cold and echoey space! Last night I didn’t sleep well, until early morning, of course; I kept going over Things I Still Had To Do, of which there still seemed to be quite a few.

This morning, the builders came early, but only for half a day. I finished wrapping the precious china from our other cabinet, and cleared a lot more stuff from the walk in wardrobe.  Now of course I can’t find things!  Actually the guys cleared the carpet in the main living room, and nailed down the floor boards. Thankfully they didn’t clear the master bedroom, although I’d moved several things into the ensuite bathroom.

Mid-morning JD and I escaped for morning tea at the café up the road: oat milk lattés and a savoury muffin for me, a blueberry muffin for JD. Our newspaper wasn’t delivered this morning, so I bought a copy from the local supermarket.

After we went home we based ourselves downstairs, turning a heater on in one of the bedrooms while it was noisy upstairs. At midday the builders left, but first they put back a couch in the main living room, so we can be comfortable and watch television. What an upheaval it all is!  And I wish JD would get rid of more stuff. The rubbish bin and the recycling bin are both full, so we’ll have to hang on to other rubbish for a but longer. I am prepared to get rid of a comfortable four-seater couch that needs re-covering; I’ve sent a photo to the Salvation Army asking them to come and pick it up, but so far I haven’t heard back from them. There’ve been two trailer-load trips to the tip, however.

Meanwhile, the Matariki Market that Hōhepa Hawkes Bay has been cancelled, because bad weather is predicted;  that’s a shame, but we couldn’t go, owing to our expecting carpet layers on Monday; our daughter made some beautiful star-shaped cookies, but I’m sure she won’t have any trouble finding grateful people happy to eat them.

There’s bad weather up north, especially in Auckland, but here in Wellington we continue to experience beautiful weather: cold mornings and evenings (some frosty), but fine sunny daytime hours with little wind. It rained yesterday, but it’s fine again today, if cold.

In the Northern Hemisphere, especially in Europe, the US and China they continue to experience very hot temperatures, far too hot – temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s Celsius.  There are also forest fires – outside Athens and still in Canada, I think.  This is a serious warning to anyone who still doesn’t believe in climate change: regardless of what part human greed has played in causing it, the fact remains that it’s uncomfortably hot for many people.  While we feel a bit guilty here for enjoying fine, temperate weather, one is reminded that Wellington has long had a reputation for cold, windy weather; it has usually been several degrees colder here than in Hawkes Bay, when we return to Wellington, although it can be cold and windy in Napier too.

In Ukraine, the brutality continues: when will there be an honourable peace? I am reminded that there were wars in the past that were very hard to stop – remember the Balkan Wars?  But they do stop, eventually, even if the truce results in an uneasy peace.

In the UK, there have been by-elections, for Boris Johnson’s former seat, and some others. I don’t think Labour have done as well as they may have hoped. Evidently the Conservatives have just held on to Johnson’s seat.

In the US, former president Donald Trump is in further legal trouble, having been informed that he’s the target of a Jack Smith investigation. That is a distraction, of course, as legal eagles continue to pontificate.

After Matariki celebrations, the country (here) woke yesterday to learn that there was an active shooter in the Auckland CBD, who shot three people dead (including himself), and injured several more, including a policeman.  Meanwhile, I watching with great interest a three part series on Television One called Murder in the Pacific, about the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior.  As well as this, the trial continues of Lauren Dickason, who has been accused of killing her three daughters: a six year old, and two year old twins.  Infanticide seems very extreme, but small children can be very irritating, and being in isolation for two weeks for Covid 19 can’t have been an easy time. Still, it is really puzzling, that someone would be so unwell as to do this terrible thing. One thinks of Medea, who killed her children, and I remember analysing the various pressures she was under, as well as how evil she was as a character. Euripides, one of the great Greek dramatists, wrote a play about her. Whatever the circumstances, infanticide remains a shocking crime.

It’s now Sunday July 23^rd.

This morning I went to church, but I’m not having a great day. We worshipped in the Hall this morning, which is supposed to be warmer, and more casual, but somehow I (and several; others) were very cold, although I was wearing a roll neck jersey and a light top, and a woollen jacket over it; I was wearing a long woollen skirt which I’d found too; that was fine, but I still had cold feet!  Although parishioners were having coffee and croissants, I wasn’t brave enough to do so: it’s very tricky to eat and drink in this situation, and I’m more comfortable going without.  Unfortunately, JD didn’t bring me a cup of coffee at home before church this morning; why not, I don’t know. I could have bought an oat latté at the café nearby, but navigating carrying a hot drink was tricky too, so I did not do so.

JD couldn’t pick me up, so I had an oat latté and cheese scone after the service while waiting for my bus. I went to the Johnsonville Shopping Centre and changed a book at Whitcoulls; the one I chose was $10 cheaper, so I now have a $10 gift card. I had a look at the Wild South store, where they were having a sale, but sadly, perhaps, all the sale goods were in colours I found unattractive.

The cinemas here are advertising “Barbenheimer”, the double billing of the new Oppenheimer movie directed by Christopher Nolan, which is three hours long, and the Barbie film starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken.  It was made by Greta Gerwig, who made the latest version of Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women, with quite a feminist bent.  I had intended not to see the Barbie movie, but perhaps I will when it comes on one of the streaming services.  Then I won’t have to wear pink – which colour I do not wear, as a rule.

When one of my granddaughters had her fourth birthday, what did she want but a Barbie doll!  I was amazed, and amused, and I still seek to remind her of this when she’s twenty one; she’s a bit of a tomboy, and not very princess-like. Personally, I had a lovely walkie-talkie brunette doll that I called Patricia, but I never ever wanted a Barbie doll. My granddaughter’s mother thought that a friend of her at kindergarten may have put her up to it. In the event, she got several Barbie dolls!  Now she’s much more into Care Bears. Our children had Care Bears, which came in pastel colours, back in the 1980’s.  Now they come in all kinds of colours.  I thought I was ordering a yellow one for her one Christmas, but the one I ordered turned out to be a deep green.

There are lots of reviews of Oppenheimer, which seems to be a very good film; in fact, there’s so much hype about this movie (and the Barbie one) that it’s a bit off putting.  The Rest is History podcast did three episodes on the actual history of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Morning Joe interviewed the director and senior cast members; the Guardian podcast sought to interview Cillian Murphy.  By all accounts, he plays this part very well indeed. 

It’s useful, I guess, for all to be reminded of the horrors inspired by nuclear fission, and the dreadful and long lasting contamination it causes.  There have been plenty of near misses and not near misses, such as the Three Mile Island incident in March 1979, the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the Fukushima disaster in 2011, as well as the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, chronicled by Max Hastings in his recent book Abyss; those are the main ones we know about, but there’ve been other near misses too, and many nations as well as the US and the Russians have nuclear weapons, for example, North Korea!  The world is a very dangerous place, and perhaps the fear of radiation contamination has prevented the use of nuclear weapons to date, since the atom bomb was used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this ending the Second World War.  At present, during the war in Ukraine, the nuclear power plant at Zaporizhia is used by the Russians as a very scary target where their brinkmanship is displayed from time to time. Putin wields immense power partly because in addition to being an autocratic and heartless leader, he has nuclear weapons. How well do they work? Who knows, but hopefully no one is willing to find out.

I remember the CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) protests in the 1970’s; back then we thought that nuclear war and testing of nuclear bombs was the biggest threat faced by mankind. Now we face additional threats:  the climate crisis is very much upon us, with very high temperatures continuing in the northern hemisphere, and the coming of AI – which has the potential to change – what, and how, exactly? Who knows.  I probably won’t have to deal with it, but my children and grandchildren will.

What a world we live in. But there’s still much to be thankful for, in this temperate land, even if it’s a little cold.  It’s easier to warm up than to cool down. What will next summer be like, I wonder?  In Ukraine, fierce fighting continues, as people speculate over Putin’s position and potential weakness. He seems adamant to continue his crazy war in Ukraine, however.  In the US, the trials of Trump continue to fascinate, as legal eagles continue to find plenty of things to argue about. And in the UK, in recent by-elections Sunak, Starmer and the leader of the Lib Dems each won a seat, although the Conservatives only just won the seat previously held by Boris Johnson. 

That’s it for now. Tonight another series of Brokenwood Mysteries starts on Television One. I will try to stay awake for it, while continuing to mourn the loss of Breen (the redhead).  Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.