PR Summer Camp 2011
Wow, so it seems I committed to posting a little bit more often….back in 2009….so given the title of this post, it looks like I’ve failed on that front.
So why might you ask am I back in here now posting now? Back in 2007 I attended a course on Social Media 101 where I set this up for the practical exercises. Today, I am in a PRINZ workshop on PR…it seems Social Media has now crossed over into the PR realm so here I am again, setting up a blog to see how it all works. Now given I already had this one setup…no point reinventing the wheel, so I’ll just write this post while everyone else sets up their post using Blogger which I’m not a big fan of.
The course in Melbourne was interesting, I attended it with my colleague (who has subsequently left Vodafone), his WordPress blog as a little slower to get off the mark than mine, however he keep up with it and did indeed win the race to 1000 views (he’s well over the 20000 views now, but it seems he’s lost interest as well with the last post well over a year ago….perhaps it is a fad after all?
Long time between drinks…
Well, just checked my last post and it reads posted 9 January 2008…wow, that’s well over a whole year ago…time for me to pick up the pace a little! Hopefully I can make it on here a little more often and we’ll finally get that in-depth review of the Perfect North Island Bush Rifle…
Slackness
Well, back into the new year, 08 is almost two weeks old and this is my first post in over a month! Tis the season of slackness I guess. I swapped the workplace attire with beach attire, the mobile and laptop for a book and a cool beer, damn, I wish I was back on holiday!That aside, the week has been pretty quiet, always takes a couple of days to get up to full power, so enjoying the lull before the storm. Thought I’d share a video with you all, no doubt you’ve all heard of the Lol Cats phenomena which has swept the online world…check out the history below.Update: Can’t embed that type of video, but you should be able to find it at the link below
First Impressions of the Perfect North Island Rifle
Well, the new rifle arrived last Monday, but I’ve had to wait until today for the first shot (I doubt the neighbours in Takapuna would appreciate 240 grain slugs flying into the mangroves!). Rifle shot really well, it’s been a few years since I’ve used a .44 Magnum, and that was in a single shot break open rifle with a 20 inch barrel. Firing the .44 slug out of a 13 inch barrel certainly increases the noise! Somewhere between a shotgun and .223 Remington in the decibel ratings…as for the kick, it gives a good shove, probably a bit more than a .223 as there’s a larger heavier bullet leaving the barrel (albeit at 2000 fps slower), feels a bit like a 410 or 20 gauge shotgun, definitely doesn’t feel like a rifle.As for use in the bush, well shooting of the deck of a house doesn’t give you a feel for how it’s going to preform in the bush, however, it’s short, light and easy to point. Will fit in the pack, making it easy to walk into the huts, over the shoulder (if I fit a sling) it won’t even rise above my shoulder so won’t snag on the bush…I reckon I might have just found the perfect North Island bush gun.
A very sad ending
Well with all things, especially television, you can’t always script how you want things to end. I’m quite sure when CloseUp decided to run Nicky Watson’s, now infamous, “Cricket”, piece last week (as seen in my previous post) they would have been hoping for a better ending, perhaps a re-uniting piece, maybe even the lucky punter who coughed up the fur ball may have been happy for One News to film his receiving his reward (whatever that may have been…guess we’ll never know). But no, it was not to be, all we saw on both Close Up and 3 News was a 15 second piece telling us all of the tragic ending of Cricket washing up on Matarangi beach in the Coromandel. Nicky is reported to have not slept since his disappearance on the 24 November. Maybe she, and the national news networks can now get on with life and the more serious happening surrounding it! On a happier note, the perfect North Island bush rifle arrived today, so we’ll see a follow up post to this one shortly.
What on earth has happened to TV in New Zealand!
While watching Close Up on channel 1 last night I was astounded to see this story, check it out below! I could write more…but I don’t really need to! [Check out the part where the interviewer mentions she's a bit hoarse...Nicky's answer is priceless]
Ideal North Island Bush Hunting Rifle
I’ve learnt something over the last week or so. After my maiden North Island bush hunt I’ve learnt that things are quite different up here in the North. Where I hunt in the South Island (Southern Alps) a long range flat shooting rifle is required. Calibres such as the .270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum and the 243 Winchester are called for, they drive a relatively long bullet weighing anywhere from 87 grains up to 160 gr relatively flat, making that long across valley shot easier. I’ve owned a 7mm Remington Magnum and loved it. However boyhood dreaming saw me want more, so I sold that and picked up my pet rifle, the one I’ve been dreaming about since I was a young chap (too young to have a firearms license that is), the Weatherby .257 Magnum in Mk V Ultralight, nicely crafted piece of hardware…and oh so sweet to shoot. It was Roy Weatherby’s personal favorite and one of his first creations (the .300 Weatherby was the other). Capable of knocking down deer sized game right out to 600 yards (in the right hands of course with everything going your way) I thought I’d found the one gun I would ever need. No so, after four days of dragging myself through the North Islands bush where the 26 inch barrel of the Ultralight was more of a hinderance than anything else…I decided I’d better do something about it. Stage left enter Gun City in Christchurch. The supplied me with a Rossi Puma in .44 Magnum…but that’s not all. They also offered to customise the length to whatever I wanted so long as it didn’t fall below the legal 762mm length deeming it a pistol (and different license is required for this in NZ…limitations include you can’t take a pistol hunting). The rifle comes with a 20 inch barrel, Rossi also do a 16 inch barreled version…I chose to go down to 13 inches after the encounter with the Weatherby in the bush. Rifle should arrive this week so once I’ve run the barrel in I’ll report back with how this machine goes!
Movember, hunting ‘n’ stuff
Well, we’re almost at the halfway point in Movember, Thursday is the official midpoint so she’s all downhill from then on in. Started the shaping on Sunday night, looking a bit rough still…but it’s a journey! People asked why I waited that long before I shaved off the beard, simple I answered. If you want a slice of chocolate cake, you don’t bake a slice, you bake a cake then cut out the slice…I transferred this train of thought to my facial hair gardening. The other reason I waited was I spend five days hunting in the Kaimaniwas with three mates. I took in the Weatherby but unfortunately didn’t connect with anything, the only deer I saw was across the river, and the only weapon I had was a fly rod…not really suitable for a Sika deer. North Island hunting is a bit different to South Island, I’m used to open tops and high mountains, North Island is all about bush…without my GPS I reckon I’d still be trying to find my way out of there! Have added a level action .44 Magnum rifle to my wish list, far better suited to tight bush conditions. Xmas is coming so we’ll see how we go in that department.
The Most Addictive Loop on the Net
A lot of people post about funny things they have come across on the internet. When I was at uni (not that long ago) we came across this fantastic site Weebl’s-Stuff. Now you may take a look at that and think, hmmm, interesting…for a 10 year old. But I can tell you, there is a hell of good content on there for 20 somethings, especially when they’re in the middle of a Relational Database computer lab…I can tell you, there’s not much on the web that’s boring when you’ve got that to content with. My personal favorite is Magical Trevor , it takes a moment to download, especially if you’re on dial-up (good reason to get off it!) but let it run for a while, after a couple of loops you’ll be humming it…after five, you’ll be singing it in the shower! Enjoy
Summer = Cheap wine!
I’ve found a way of quelling the itch of the Mo this Movember…red wine! Who would have thought! Been drinking the stuff since I was knee high to a grass hopper (legal grass hopper that is), so was pleasantly surprised to see that the itch lowers in direct proportion to the amount of Pinot Noir you pump in to the system! Great, so what’s next…well, where do you find cheap wine to the thirst? Easy, check out http://www.blackmarket.co.nz and you won’t be disappointed! Well worth the effort and cheap by the case. And if you get a bad batch (unlikely), they arrange a replacement or refund. Perfect! Enjoy, I know I will!
