My Maunga
This shot taken from the Napier-Taupo Road. Nice eruption action!
Thanks Dad for the pic!
Braybrook Fence
About a week ago we got out on a hot Sunday night to engage in a bit more fence art. I decided to try a different technique and did a bit of weaving, I suppose you would call it. It was a bit quicker – so this only took two and a half hours, not including the finger knitting time.
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Deep in the forest: Ross Meurant
An article was published today in the NZ Sunday Star Times. It’s an opinion piece by former NZ Police and Member of Parliament, Ross Meurant.
And it’s brilliant. But before we get to it, I want to share a wee story.
I remember when I got arrested as an activist, explaining the ridiculousness of arresting us and seeing the face of one of the officers understand what I was on about but stepping back to support the main arresting officer. I always thought that a bit odd.
That ridiculous arrest cost the court system thousands of dollars to throw the charges out. And also led to a police compliants authority investigation which ruled in my favour. Probably about $20 000 worth of total cost to the system when a third of our children are living in poverty. If that officer had tapped his colleague on the shoulder , whispered in his air that this was a waste of time, we could have all gone home with a bit of mutual respect.
And that was just a minor case.
Meurant says “The strength of our police is public confidence and support; without which they are nothing.” In the activist scene this confidence was undermined a long time ago. When police officers warn people that they will be arrested if they do a certain action and then arrest them anyway. When police officers physically assault members of the public when they appear to be acting as private security guards for multinational companies. When police officers remove their identification before peace protests and then front up to parliament asking for more weapons, they not only undermine our confidence but they draw some pretty serious battle lines.
I have witnessed all of the above happening, some of which I have seen on numerous occaisions. I have also had a number of older activists, those who were around during the Tour, say to me that it wasn’t like this in their day. That being the time when Meurant was around…
Read this and then tell your parents to read it.
Tautoko That
“Democracy hasn’t always been kind to minorities.”In Maoridom it’s not democracy that we strive for. It’s really tino rangatiratanga, the absolute individual’s rights within the collective.”
Kingitanga kaumatua Hare Puke
Stand in solidarity! Global Day Of Action – Saturday 27th Oct, 12 noon
Don’t forget to make yourself heard on Saturday. If there’s nothing on in your area, organise something!
I’m baking, stitching and painting!
- Everywhere: Any letters emailed to lettersforprisoners[at]riseup[dot]net will printed out and distributed to arrestees. Obviously don’t write anything that could negatively impact on you or anyone else! If you can help with processing these letters, please email the crew on the same address. For more information, see http://www.civilrightsdefence.org.nz.
- Auckland: Demonstration Saturday Oct 27th at 12 noon meeting in Aotea Square. [ Poster ]
- Hamilton: Protest Sat 27th, meet 12 noon @ Garden Place.
- Rotorua: Hikoi Thursday 25th Oct, meet 9am Apumoana Marae (by Blue Lake), hikoi to Rotorua District Court for bail hearings.
- Whanganui: Rally and march Saturday October 27th at 12 noon. Meet at the River Traders Market on Moutoa Quay (behind Taupo Quay).
- Wellington: Protest Sat 27th, meet 12 noon @ Midland Park. Bring noisemakers and rage [ Poster ]. Prisoner support meetings are being held at 128 Abel Smith St, 6pm, each Tuesday. A range of solidarity events are happening over the coming days. [ Upcoming events ].
- Christchurch: A solidarity rally and march will be held in Cathedral Square at 12noon on Saturday Oct 27th, followed by a picnic with live music [ Posters: 1 & 2 ]. A meeting to plan solidarity work will be held Thursday 25th, 6pm at the Otautahi Social Centre, 206 Barbadoes St. A benefit gig has been organised for Thursday 1st November at the Wunder Bar in Lytellton.
- Dunedin: Picnic on Sunday Oct 28th to discuss the Terrorism Supression Act, Tuhoe history and Parihaka. 12 noon – 2:30pm, Otago Museum Reserve.
- Sydney, Australia: Public meeting & demonstration on Thursday October 25th, 5:30pm outside NZ Consulate-General, 55 Hunter St, Sydney
- Melbourne, Australia: A solidarity demonstration will be held Saturday 27th in Federation Square, 12noon.
- London, England: Solidarity protest Saturday 27th, 12 noon @ NZ High Comission, 80 Haymarket, SW1Y, Westminster.
Donations can be made to the defence fund. See the Civil Rights Defence Committee website for details. Or if you’re coming to Melbourne, we’ll be collecting on the day to send over one big donation to cut down on paypal fees.
Buy Handmade
OK so if you really really have to buy something for your friends and family for christmas, why not make it something handmade? That way they’ll love it more. Your community will love you more. The planet will love you more. And of course your soul will love you more.
There’s bazillions of wonderful products on the internet to peruse. Why not start at Mintd. And if you just love the hands on experience, try a market. You might have to do a wee bit of research to find one near you, but that’s not that hard really. And you’re guaranteed to meet some wonderful people in your community who make fabulous things. Melbourne people can check out this site for a guide to all the markets.
Oh and take the pledge!
The ninja
The cross stitch ninja, a kind of self portrait I guess.
This is my first attempt at embroidering something other than cross stitch and I’m pretty happy with the result.
(More of my work can be seen at my Flickr page.)
/Cross stitch ninja
Banksy cross stitch
I found cross stitch patterns for this and a couple others of Banksy’s images at Fuldesign.se. I love street art, so these are of course two of my favorite things combined!
/Cross stitch ninja
Cross Stitching Fences in Sydney
As previously mentioned I’ve been bitten by the cross stitching on fences bug. So on the way home from Newcastle, I made a wee present for my friend. This is just outside her house so when she goes to work every morning she gets all excited!
And up close…
I like this cause a) it’s one of my favourite words and b) it reads the same both ways!
Cross Stitching Fences
Ever since I started cross stitching I always look at the world searching for square grids. Anything with a square grid can be a cross stitch canvas if you try hard enough.
So of course fences are the obvious ones. Fences have long been canvases, anything from your standard teenage boy territorial tagging through to actually using the fence as a piece of art.
So for ages I’ve been wanting to cross stitch a fence, and when we were up in Newcastle, we all got inspired.
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