The Maelstrom

It’s now 28 June 2024. Mānawatia a Matariki!

It’s been a while since I wrote.  Things have been pretty topsy-turvy since we got back from Taiwan, with trips to Hawkes Bay and to Nelson and trying not to get Covid 19 again.  There’ve been three deaths – of people that I knew, although distantly.

I have managed to see several French Film Festival movies – always a treat, although I have enjoyed some far more than others. So far highlights for me have been Divertimento, The Taste of Things starring the wonderful Juliette Binoche, and Abbé Pierre. Most of the films are about women endeavouring to be taken seriously. Most films are screened at the Penthouse or one of the Lighthouse Cinemas, which are convenient to get to. However most of the afternoon ones start around 1 pm of 3 pm:  so I have to use my snapper card to get home, since it’s after 3 pm; but the 3 pm or later ones finish after 5 pm, by which time it’s dark. Also, although JD drops me off while it is fine and not-so-cold, it tends to be very cold and sometimes wet when the movie is finished!

Although I’ve been trying to avoid catching covid, I feel it’s safer to be in a sometimes almost empty theatre than meeting in small rooms with my older friends.

It’s been wonderful to have the French Film Festival booklet, advertising times and places for the different screenings. I can also see which ones have been booked out. I hope that the better films will be screened on general release now that the Festival is finished.

So far I’ve seen The President’s Wife, Abbé Pierre, Bonnard Pierre et Marthe, The Sitting Duck (uncomfortable!), Divertimento (wonderful, I’d love to see it again), Sidonie in Japan, Marguerite’s Theorem, and The Taste of Things. Of these, Divertimento was wonderful, featuring Ravel’s Bolero and Dvorak’s New World Symphony and the great Celibidache.  We had watched a recording of this symphony with our eldest son in Taipei, and had also watched it back here at home. I did not manage to see two films in any one day.

I have been to some activities: Tai Chi, hymn singing, other singing, but I have not been to church. I’ve tried zooming in to the Sunday services, but sometimes there’s no sound.

Wellington CBD is a pretty sad place at present. Many shops are closed; I went to one of my favourite cafés at 1:30 pm the other day, and the kitchen was closed!  A lot of public servants have lost their jobs, and the CBD reflects this, with closures and some despair.  There seem to be few shops worth visiting nowadays, and it really frustrates me that some have quite intense heating (I’m talking about you, Farmers!)  One gets togged up with a warm coat, hat, scarf and gloves, only to enter a shop where one wants to remove these layers, even one’s cardigan. But it’s really cold outside, and especially at bus stops. This does not make sense. It’s good to have some heating, but not too much!

Last Wednesday morning our Te Reo group had a beautiful morning tea at the Khandallah Town Hall.  What a treat it was! We also went over the meaning of Matariki, and reinforced our learning from last year. We sang, too!  Most felt that this celebration of the Māori New Year is a really special feature of what it means to be a New Zealander.

It’s now Saturday, July 6.

What a maelstrom it has been. The Biden-Trump so-called debate took place, where President Biden performed poorly, contrary to expectations, causing extensive further panic amongst Democrats, anchors, and those who pontificate.  Everywhere one goes (or went) there were emergency podcasts about “that debate”, and even British commentators are joining in condemning Joe Biden. But although many of them noticed Trump’s lies, few if any have observed that he failed to answer the questions put to him! He couldn’t look forwards, only backwards, in his grievance-laden replies. For some reason the two CNN anchors, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, were unable or unwilling to challenge Trump on any of this. Some are pro-Biden – I am divided, I must admit: surely he’s been a great president, but can he beat Donald Trump in the election? And, if he were to stand down, who would replace him?  Vice President Kamala Harris has certainly stepped up her game, but is she presidential material?

Then, the US Supreme Court gave its verdict, that the US President has immunity for all so-called official acts; that definition was conveniently passed down to a lower court.  So all the pundits are saying that Trump is now King, and after all they left England so as not to have the king of England rule over them.  But the king of England, who is probably the best known king who “reigns” over the most people, really has very little power, and is subject to the British Parliament, even having to read sometimes dreadful speeches from the current Prime Minister, with whom he may not agree. So this comparison seems irrelevant.  Honestly, the Americans are just so annoying sometimes!

Anyway, however you discuss it, the President has just about complete immunity, and it will be extremely difficult, expensive and time-consuming to hold him legally accountable – for anything! We are in a New World where if you thought things couldn’t get worse, they just did.

On the brighter side, in the UK election the Labour Party has just won a definitive victory, and full credit to Sir Keir Starmer for turning  the Labour Party around and leading it to victory after some stunning defeats. A number of well-known conservatives lost their seats, including the odious and entitled Jacob Rees-Mogg, and former Prime Minister Liz Truss! Woo-hoo!  An election that it was actually fun to watch.  Starmer, on his way to Buckingham Palace, quipped that he has a plan (when asked what his first priority would be), and an umbrella!

Rishi Sunak, I have to say, was gracious in defeat, and spoke rather well after the Tory loss.  He’ll be more effective in opposition, perhaps. He did retain his seat, as did Jeremy Corbyn, and the odious Nigel Farage won the seat he stood for. One commentator quipped that his electorate “surgeries” in future could be interesting.

It is rather cold and miserable in Wellington at present. Even 7-8 C feels really cold! There are occasional fine days, but of course the hours of sunshine are really limited and the days are short and the mornings and evenings very cold.

On Monday I went to a funeral at Old Saint Paul’s Cathedral, a beautiful old wooden building, although I had forgotten how uncomfortable the seats are and how cold it can be there. I didn’t know the elderly gentleman well, and he’d just turned 88, and hadn’t been frail, so it wasn’t a tragic death.  One of the groups that I sing with was supposed to sing at the function afterwards, but there had been no notice about that, since our choir leader had covid.

There was a big turnout at the funeral; the gentleman had been involved in many things, including many charities; but we only sang one hymn (“Be still my soul”), and there were no readings: the “service” was mostly tributes with a couple of musical offerings. A tribute from his brother was read out (said brother was stranded at Nelson Airport, since the weather was so awful), and this mentioned the Lord Jesus and the person’s Christian upbringing. There were many church connections – he’d met his wife at a church event, but there was no mention of Heaven, that Death is not the end, or of the Creator who’d given life and a giving and generous heart.  So I found that quite sad.

Afterwards, the weather was even worse, with rain, sever wind and cold. I remembered the day of the Wahine disaster in 1968, and my time at Wellington Girls’ College, and what a cold, windy suburb Thorndon can be.

There were to be refreshments at the Loaves and Fishes Hall next to St Paul’s Cathedral after the funeral, but I wondered how many made that 10 minute walk, negotiating busy road crossings along the way.  I found a café nearby that was open, and had coffee with two of my singing friends. One of them brought me home afterwards. It wasn’t a very nice café, but it had spare seating, and it was good to catch up.

On Wednesday I went to my Te Reo class, and afterwards I went to see a film, The Road to Patagonia.  This documentary-tyle film had been well reviewed, and I really wanted to see it, but I found it rather frustrating, especially the naivety of the leading male character.  Although it was mainly about surfing, and a desire to “get back to nature”, I remained thankful for medical interventions that had kept me alive (when I had my eldest son and when I had my SAH), and for modern plumbing!  Our hero did not stop in Oregon – which I had fond memories of; although not of great surf beaches; and I reminded myself that a film crew was filming all this, camping, the heat, the cold, and so on. Our hero and his girlfriend did not get sick. Towards the end I am sure I saw them eating hamburgers (twice), although the wrappers were kept out of sight.

On Thursday I went to my last singing session for the term, and on Friday we had some friends to visit, and the lady from Access. 

That’s it for now. Sometime, the fighting in Ukraine, and the fighting in Gaza, will cease. Remember the wars in the Balkan countries in the 1980’s, which seemed never-ending? One hopes and prays for an honourable peace, in both cases. Slava Ukraini!  Ngā mihi nui.