Subj : EatingDrinking+BeingMerr To : Miles Maxted From : James Bradley Date : Mon Apr 25 2005 01:20 am 04-24-05 07:27, Miles Maxted told James Bradley about EatingDrinking+BeingMerr How do, Miles? MM> a major hit in the Croccodile Dundee series... As they say, the rest was history. MM> Mmmm ... the nicest invader since me has been the Barrat's Atta boy, Miles. Humility will get you somewhere. 0-8 MM> Swallow; blown over the Tasman some 15 years ago, they are now MM> everywhere in the Auckland area, swooping around aerobatically as MM> they feast on flying insects ... and nesting impossibly in nooks MM> and crannies on buildings. We seem to have Purple Loostrife [sp?] and West Nile Virus. After that, the lack of humidity seems to be a rather effective barrier. (Not being an ecologist, mind you.) MM> Not a major challenge - wander around Auckland airport muttering MM> gibberish ("This place needs a rigorous disestablishmentarism with MM> macro eco-politics..") and some lovely Kiwi will whip you off in a MM> limo and install you behind a humungous desk somewhere rich... Just two problems there: A) I tend towards *antidisestablishmentariarianistic* thinking, and B) Sounds like work! MM> Before first light on the morning of; sip steadily through the MM> day ... and end up staring at the nth bottle around early evening, MM> knowing that it is one bottle too much for the day. MM> Real problem is that n deminishes as age grows... You da vessel... Er... I mean, "You de man!" Don't get me wrong. I imbibe, but I garnered a crash course on the drug when a family member had his fill. And I aint talkin' for the night! MM> It's not the dark red volcanic togsoil that coasts the volcanic MM> regions of Queensland, Australia; the volcano outside our front MM> windows is only 800 years old (no bubbly at all for its b'day), MM> and its surface is porous scoria, dark grey in colour. MM> NZ was solid rainforest when the first humans arrived about 900 MM> years ago, so I guess top soil is loaded with its remains... Moiry [sp?] is the native population, but only suspected of being in existence for less than a millennium? MM> Jeez, they were allowed to get the cows and the wood in, MM> given the run of the kitchen - and all the kids they wanted - MM> why'd they want to run the country as well ? At least it keeps MM> them out the pub,,,, JB> ...And if you can keep 'em barefoot, and pregnant? MM> That seems to come naturally... Miles, I suspect that glint in your eye comes naturally. <-; 'Round here, the pilgrim would 'allow' their women to milk the cows, raise the babies, feed the family... But the *men* would gather the wood. So far, only one female Prime Minister, and she adopted the position only to be promptly voted out. MM> If you ever get to tour Warwick Castle, visit their dungeons; the MM> equipment is original, and the displays leave nothing to the MM> imagination over the administration of medieval justive... MM> It is claimed that most of the gear came with the dungeons... it MM> certainly features a lot of hand-forged iron that's well-worn and MM> etched with rust... All castles housed at least one smithy plus a few apprentices, so they might have well been unique implements. The chore - I would imagine - would be keeping them in the confines of the crypt for any length of time. JB> Those with an "Extended existence" tend to get themselves incarcerated JB> here. [-|{ Just be sure to feed the rest of the system, whilst JB> you bolster the spirits would you? MM> Hey, this is the land of too-much-plenty - its hard to maintain a MM> slim profile here... Coming from the land of *much-too-plenty*; I can relate. ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.20 --- Maximus 3.01 * Origin: -=-= Calgary Oraganization (403) 242-3221 (1:134/77) .