Storm and a Falling Hemlock Tree

It is snowing again! After me and Kate cleared the driveway the other day, mother nature decided to dump another 10-15 Cm's of snow on us.

Lake Echo is freezing over and guess what? last night we awoke to the sound of an almighty crash outside. We assumed like last year it was just a pile of snow falling off the roof and so we went back to sleep, however, in the morning we discovered the real reason for last nights crashing sound. A massive Eastern Hemlock tree which borders the front garden which has been there for god knows how many years decided that it had enough of the storm and keeled over, missing the house and the car!

Had it fallen a different way, then I might have been writing this blog post from the next life.

Now I believe we need to call some guys with chainsaws and bloody big truck to take the bugger away.

Merry Xmas.

The SNOW has arrived!

Well, after a few warmish days in Nova Scotia the weather has finally kicked into its seasonal norm and the temperatures have fallen, just like the snow!

Schools are already being closed and warnings are out for the highways.

Yesterday, me and Katie went shopping at Mic Mac Mall and had lunch at East Side Mario's which was excellent.

The last few days we have been putting up the Christmas decorations and lights, I have been out taking photos in the snow and I expect tomorrow I will be shoveling it off the driveway.

Today we ate at Cora's in Dartmouth and had a healthy feed, and by healthy I mean unhealthy....if you know what I mean?

The other night we boiled up 8 Lobsters and they were absolutely ace! We bought them for only $5.00 Lb direct from the fishermen since they are getting paid low prices from the distributors, they have taken to selling the Lobsters direct by the side of the road out the back of their vans. Good ones too!

As always the Snow provides for excellent photography and I will be surely returning to New Zealand will hundred's of wintry photos.

This weekend we plan to grab a hotel in the city and go out for a meal and a few Britney's.

Muzzerino.

Winter in Halifax, Nova Scotia

God! I never want to see Toronto Airport again!!

Between being hungover and waiting for a delayed flight I was desperate to get out of there. I spend about 8 hours in the airport just walking in circles, visiting the same shops over and over, looking out the window and checking the departure monitors to see if my flight was actually going to go or not.

Due to high winds the Halifax flight was delayed but we eventually got there after a very bumpy approach.

Nova Scotia is much warmer this year when I arrived, indeed 25c warmer than last time where it was -12c and now it is +12, indeed much like an Auckland day.

This soon dropped however and we are now sitting at around 0 degree's C and last night we got a wee but of snow, not much but enough for me and Katie to make 2 snowballs from the picnic table!

Today we are off to grab an Xmas tree!

One Day in Toronto

I decided to take a trip into the city since I was there only one full day so I took a public bus from Dixon Road near the Airport to Kipling Station where I grabbed a subway train (free) to Spadina road then I jumped on a Streetcar to King Street, (also free, was I supposed to pay?)

At around -6c it wasnt too bad for walking around and I had my warm hoodie with me. The good thing about wearing a hoodie in a Canadian city is that you actually need one and are not mistaken for a criminal.

I went up the CN Tower to check out the view and it was great, although it was a grey winters day the views of the downtown area were still fantastic. While I was in the lift I asked the lift operator where all the good Toronto bars were and of course from the CN Tower, it wasnt hard for him to point them out.

I found myself about an hour later in a bar called the "Friar and Firkin" where after a few ales I got talking to a local guy called Trevor who interestingly had a script with him. I asked him about it and we got talking about movies and film-making and stuff and before I knew it was there all night and ended up getting rather minced.

Afterward we headed to a club and shortly thereafter I grabbed a taxi back to the Airport hotel.

Upon arrival at the airport I got the munchies and decided to use the vending machine for a bag of chips (crisps), but of course the offending machine decided to jam up and it gave me nothing, at first....

After a few bashes, shoves and kicks I walked away with about 9 packets of Crisps ranging from Salt N Vinegar to BBQ... all in all not a bad score. Thank god all the other guests were sleeping and did not see me retreat to my room with my arms full of free snacks.

See ya T.O.

The Big Trip

Well, After a gruelling 12 hour flight from Auckland to Los Angeles, (where a woman proposed to me when she heard my accent, awesome! ) then an additional 5 hours to Toronto, I am finally here in a beautiful Canadian Winter ( It feels like Christmas! )

-8 Degrees, that's right my Kiwi friends, -8 degrees when I got out the door to grab my free shuttle to the Holiday Inn Airport East and the hotel is awesome. I took some of those "No-Jet-Lag" pills (made in NZ) before I left and hey, I think they work!

I am about to brave a Public bus to get into Toronto city center where I plan to explore, take a few snaps then scurry back to the hotel before my snot freezes to my face.

Ka Kite Ano!

Muzzerino.

Christmas Desktop Wallpaper

Check out the latest awesome Xmas Wallpaper here!

A Perfect Day

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Pohutukawa Tree. New Zealand Xmas Tree

he Pōhutukawa flowers from November to January with a peak in mid to late December (the southern hemisphere summer), with brilliant crimson flowers covering the tree, hence the nickname New Zealand Christmas Tree.

There is variation between individual trees in the timing of flowering, and in the shade and brightness of the flowers. In isolated populations genetic drift has resulted in local variation: many of the trees growing around the Rotorua lakes produce pink-shaded flowers, and the yellow-flowered cultivar "Aurea" descends from a pair discovered in 1940 on Mōtiti Island in the Bay of Plenty.

christmas, widescreen, desktop, Pohutukawa, tree, Xmas, New Zealand, Photo, Images

Homecoming Scotland 2009 Advert

Cat Funnies.

I don't see the resemblance

Your problems are irrelevant to technical-support-cat.

Thats correct little Human, Bow and Worship me.

Door to Door Salescat, won't take no for an answer!

cat funnies, lolcats

Keith's Beer Adverts

Keith's Beer Adverts : Eulogy of a Fallen Beer

Keith's Beer Adverts : Label Peeler

Keith's Beer Adverts : Out Of Beer

Alexander Keith (October 5, 1795 – December 14, 1873) was a Canadian politician and brewmaster. He was mayor of the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, a Conservative member of the provincial legislature, and the founder of the Alexander Keith's brewing company.

Keith was born in Halkirk, Caithness, Highland, Scotland, where he became a brewmaster. He immigrated to Canada in 1817, founded the Alexander Keith's brewing company in 1820. He served as mayor of Halifax, Nova Scotia three times, and as a member of the Legislative Council for 30 years.

Throughout his career Keith was connected with several charitable and fraternal societies. He served as president of the North British Society from 1831 and as chief of the Highland Society from 1868 until his death. In 1838 he was connected with the Halifax Mechanics Library and in the early 1840s with the Nova Scotia Auxiliary Colonial Society. Keith was perhaps best known to the Halifax public as a leader of the Freemasons.

He became provincial grand master for the Maritimes under the English authority in 1840 and under the Scottish lodge in 1845. Following a reorganization of the various divisions in 1869, he became grand master of Nova Scotia.

Alexander Keith died in Halifax in 1873 and was buried at Camp Hill Cemetery across from the Halifax Public Gardens. His birthday is often marked by people visiting the grave and placing beer bottles and caps on it (or, less frequently, cards or flowers).

He has often been confused with his nephew, Alexander Keith, Jr. (nicknamed "Sandy") who was a notorious Confederate agent during the American Civil War.

Demotivational Posters 3

Massive Tits
Are you even reading this?

demotivational posters

Beach Volleyball
Its fun trying to figure out those hand signals

demotivational posters

Safety in Numbers
it doesn't always apply

demotivational posters

Retards
We all know one

demotivational posters

Paperbags
because sometimes turning off the light just isn't enough

demotivational posters

Vacations
There you are having fun with your family when a fuc*ing
Ninja appears from under the water and kills you all!

demotivational posters

Smile
because you might need proof that you were really there

demotivational posters / inspirational posters

Indian Navy takes out the Pirates!

India's New Warship takes out the bad guys.

The region off the coast of Somalia is bristling with warships from a variety of countries all over the world including French, British Russian and American but who was first to deal a deadly blow to the pirates? that's right the mighty Indian Navy in one of their shiny new Stealthy Talwar Class Frigates.

The INS Tabar appeared to have spotted the vessel and hailed it to stop for investigation. The INS Tabar was apparently met with gunfire and responded with deadly force, sinking the vessel. There are claims that the pirate ship was heavily laden with weapons which may have cooked off in the exchange resulting in the sinking.

Its about bloody time that someone did something about these pirates and I am glad to see that the Indian took care of it.

See a large Image of the INS Tabar Stealth Warship Here >>

Muzzerino

60 YEARS OF THE NHS

60 YEARS OF THE NHS

A Lady rings her local hospital and this conversation follows: 'Hello I'd like some information on a patient, Mrs Tiptree. She was admitted last week with chest pains and I just want to know if her condition has deteriorated, stabilised or improved?
''Do you know which ward she is in?
''Yes, ward P, room 2B
''I'll just put you through to the nurse station.
''Hello, ward P, how can I help?
''I would just like some information on a patient, Mrs Tiptree, I was wondering if her condition had deteriorated, stabilised or improved?

''I'll just check her notes. I'm pleased to say that Mrs Tiptree's conditioned has improved. She has regained her appetite, her temperature has steadied and after some routine checks tonight, she should be well enough to go home tomorrow.

''Oh that's wonderful news, I'm so happy, thank you ever so much!
''You seem very relieved, are you a close friend or relative?
''No, I'm Mrs Tiptree in room 2b. Nobody tells you f**k all in here...'

Long live the NHS! >>

Glasgow Bomber Loves "England"

According to various news reports, Dr Bilal Abdulla, the man on trial for bombing Glasgow Airport, loves "England".

Eh?

So let me get this right, he loves England, so that's why he lit off a bomb in Scotland?

Maybe he is not a Muslim terrorist after all, maybe he is an English Terrorist! someone who is still upset that we in Scotland take credit most most of the worlds inventions, or perhaps he has been planning this attack since Mel Gibsons "Braveheart' came out and decided to take his anti-Scottish revenge upon us, or maybe he simply is fed up with having a Scottish Prime Minister?

Either that or his education standards are somewhat lower than that of an average NHS doctor, who surely knows the difference between Scotland and England.

Muzzerino

Statcounter : Absolutely Brilliant

I have been using Statcounter for a couple of years now and I cannot recommend it highly enough if you own your own website or blog, especially if you use blogger.

I access the Statcounter website several times a day to check on how many pageloads, unique visitors and what keywords people used to find my site.

Statcounter also has the ability for you to check your page's "exit links" and this can tell you how often people click on your Adsense adverts, something that Adsense itself cannot track on Blogger.

Go and visit, statcounter.com and grab an invisible tracker for yourself! :-)

Dear Mr Key, NZ house prices are still too high!

In order to stem the flow of Kiwis leaving New Zealand for a better life elsewhere, New Zealand has to actively attract immigrants such as myself from the UK and many other from all over the world, specifically many parts of Asia, Canada and South Africa.

I came to New Zealand as a backpacker in 2003 and got the chance to stay on and gain permanent residency.

New Zealand summers are amazing, the flora and fauna is exotic (compared to UK) and the people are friendly, helpful and overall New Zealand is a very safe country to live in.

There is of course however, no such thing as a free lunch.

New Zealand, like many places does have its "cons" and one of these is the unavoidable fact that NZ has a low wage economy. Jobs in NZ pay far less then their counterparts in other countries such as the UK or Canada and this seems to be generally accepted by many people, because the New Zealand lifestyle is much better and this is what makes up for it.

Or does it?

Yes the Summers are warm and long, eating out is very cheap and petrol costs far less than in the UK, but there is one very important component in the New Zealand lifestyle that remains unattainable for many people including myself.

Owning our own home.

New Zealand house prices, especially those in Auckland are hideously expensive and I have no idea why. Yes many houses in NZ are fully detached, something that people in UK terraced housing can only dream about, but consider this, for approx $350,000 NZD in Auckland you will maybe be able to buy a small 1 or 2 bedroom unit in a decent area. This unit will not be detached (obviously) no central heating or double glazing and may not even have proper insulation.

I am comparing this to two other places that I know very well. Nova Scotia, in Canada and Edinburgh, Scotland. Nova Scotia in particular is also quite a low wage economy and the prices of houses, fuel, food reflect this. Scotland is a high wage economy by comparison and the house prices, fuel, food also reflects it, makes sense.

For $350,000 (approx 131,000 British Pounds or 238,000 Canadian Dollars) you could buy a regular semi detached house in Edinburgh or and incredible 3 bedroom fully detached home in Nova Scotia, Canada both of which will almost always offer solidly built, well insulated and with economic central heating. Take a look at this startling comparison.

New Zealand Average Price in NZD = $405,235
United States Average Price in NZD = $369,839
United Kingdom Average Price in NZD = $347,992
Australia Average Price in NZD = $623,107

I have already ranted on about the need for New Zealand homes to have decent heating and insulation through the NZ winter, see here >>

So, in summary, NZ is exotic to many people, including myself and I love it here, but when it comes to the basics, lets think about it, low wages + high priced housing = more people will be leaving!

John Key, the new Prime Minister of NZ had said throughout his election campaign that the National Party would address the issue of people leaving NZ, I desperately hope that this issue of extortionately prices New Zealand housing will be high up on his list.

(the image is of a fully insulated, double glazed, dry and warm house in Nova Scotia, Canada)

Muzzerino

Wear the Fox Hat

auchtermuchty, scotland, video, fox, hat, miller, joke, funny

Man Shot in the Face for Tailgating !

Its one of my very worst hates, people who tailgate.

Why oh why would you do it?

why follow so close that if I have to hit the brakes you will crash into me? After all, it will be your fault.

If you are a tailgater, you might like to know that I am one of those people who will slam on the brakes just for you and blame it on the Black Cat that just ran out in front of me. You can then explain to the police and your insurance company why you could not stop in time as you cough up money for my vehicle repairs.

I would never condone this though.....

From the NZ Herald..

A man has been shot in the face with a gun following a road rage attack in central Rotorua last night.

Police have begun a hunt for the gunman, saying it was a miracle the man is alive.

The shooting happened on Eruera St, near where the former Tudor Towers Night Club was, about 9.45pm.

Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Loper of the Rotorua CIB said the road rage started on the corner of Amohau and Fenton Sts when a solidly-built man in a white station wagon with another man in his passenger seat took exception to how close he was being followed by another car.

more>>>

The absolute best Genie Story

A Husband takes his wife to play her first game of golf. Of course, the wife promptly hacked her first shot right through the window of the biggest house adjacent to the course.

The husband cringed, 'I warned you to be careful! Now we'll have to go up there, find the owner, apologize and see how much your lousy drive is going to cost us.'

So the couple walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A warm voice said, 'Come on in.' When they opened the door they saw the damage that was done: glass was all over the place, and a broken antique bottle was lying on its side near the pieces of window glass.

A man reclining on the couch asked, 'Are you the people that broke my window?'

'Uh...yeah! , sir. We're sure sorry about that,' the husband replied.

'Oh, no apology is necessary. Actually I want to thank you. You see, I'm genie, and I've been trapped in that bottle for a thousand years. Now that you've released me, I'm allowed to grant three wishes I'll give you each one wish, but if you don't mind, I'll keep the last one for my self.'

Wow, that's great!' the husband said .. He pondered a moment and blurted out, 'I'd like a million dollars a year for the rest of my life.'

'No problem,' said the genie 'You've got it, it's the least I can do. And I'll guarantee you a long, healthy life!'

'And now you, young lady, what do you want?' the genie asked. 'I'd like to own a gorgeous home complete with servants in every country in the world,' she said.

'Consider it done,' the genie said. 'And your homes will always be safe from fire, burglary and natural disasters!'
'And now,' the couple a sked in unison, 'what's your wish, genie?'

'Well, since I've been trapped in that bottle, and haven't been with a woman in more than a thousand years, my wish is to have sex with
your wife.'

The husband looked at his wife and said, 'Gee, honey, you know we both now have a fortune, and all those houses. What do you think?'

She mulled it over for a few moments and said, 'You know, you're right.

Considering our good fortune, I guess I wouldn't mind, but what about you, honey?'

You know I love you sweetheart,' said the husband. I'd do the same for you!' So the genie and the woman went upstairs where they spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying each other. The genie was insatiable. After about three hours of non-stop sex, the genie rolled over and looked directly into her eyes and asked, How old are you and your husband?'

'Why, we're both 35,' she responded breathlessly..
'No Kidding,' he said. 'Thirty-five years old and both of you still believe in genies?'

The Morning After the Office Party

Steven woke up with a killer hangover after attending his firm's Christmas Party.

He didn't even remember how he got home. It's 8.30. What day is it?
Thursday. His wife must have gone to work.

As he struggled into consciousness through the fog of a pounding
headache, his stomach plummeted as he wondered what the hell he did last
night.

He forced himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a
couple of aspirins next to a glass of water on the side table. And,
next to them, a little vase of sweet peas, freshly picked from the
garden.

He sat up. The bedroom was clean and tidy, - there was no trail of
drunkenly abandoned clothes, fresh air was coming in through the window
and all was serene. He stumbled to the bathroom, also pristine, and,
squinting gingerly into the mirror, saw that he had a black eye. This
was not a good sign, but no memories were returning.

As he concentrated hard on getting the world into focus, he saw a
post-it note stuck on the corner of the mirror. It was written in red,
with little hearts on it and a kiss from his wife.

'I'll ring your office and tell them you won't be in today. Breakfast
is in the oven. Try to eat something and go back to bed for the
morning. There's snooker on TV this afternoon. Take it easy today,
hope your eye doesn't hurt too much. See you tonight. I love you,
darling! '

He stumbled to the kitchen and sure enough, there was hot breakfast,
steaming hot coffee and the newspaper. His teenaged son was sitting at
the table, eating.

Steven, bracing himself, asked his son what happened the previous
night.

'Well, you came home after 3 A.M., drunk and out of your mind. You
fell over the coffee table and broke it, and then you puked in the
hallway, and got that black eye when you ran into the door. '

Confused, he asked his son, 'So, why is everything in such perfect
order, aspirins by the bed, a nice note from Mum and breakfast waiting
for me?'

His son replied, 'Oh THAT!... Mum dragged you to the bedroom, and when
she tried to take your trousers off, you screamed, 'Leave me alone you
slapper, I'm married!!'

Broken Coffee Table £250
Hot Breakfast £3.50
Two Aspirins 20p
Saying the right thing, at the right time......PRICELESS'

You live in Nova Scotia when....

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through
May, you live in Nova Scotia.

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and
they don't work there, you live in Nova Scotia.

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you
live in Nova Scotia.

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with
someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in Nova Scotia.

If "Vacation" means going anywhere south of
Yarmouth for the weekend, you live in Nova Scotia.

If you measure distance in hours, you live in Nova Scotia.

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than
once, you live in Nova Scotia.

If you have switched from "heat" to
"A/C" in the same day and back again, you live in
Nova Scotia.

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a
raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Nova Scotia.

If you install security lights on your house and garage,
but leave both unlocked, you live in Nova Scotia.

If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to
use them, you live in Nova Scotia.

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over
a snowsuit, you live in Nova Scotia.

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are
filled with snow you live in Nova Scotia.

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still
winter and road construction, you live in Nova Scotia.

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car,
you live in Nova Scotia.

If you find 10 degrees F "a little chilly", you
live in Nova Scotia

If you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to
all your Nova Scotian friends, you live in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia / Jokes

More UK troops for Afghanistan

It appears that the UK is already moving to shore up its resources in Afghanistan, perhaps as a prelude to the remarks by President Elect Obama that he will divert attention away from Iraq to fight the Taleban. Up to 2,000 extra UK troops are expected to be deployed.

On the surface this seems to make sense, after all Iraq had nothing to do with the war on terror. The problem is that Afghanistan is established as a nation that could never be controlled by a foreign power.

I do hope that the powers that be in the UK and the USA think for a minute to realise that conventional military force will simply not work. Security of water, food and shelter need to be top priorities for the coalition forces.

Yes there will be fighting, but the building of essential public services, police and Afghan army units need to be at the top of the list.

If all the west wants to do is defeat the Taleban, then in the spirit of Capitalism why not just outsource that job to someone else?

Demotivational Posters 2

THIS
"Will not end well"

demotivational posters

COOLNESS
"You may be cool, but you'll never be 4 popped collars cool"

demotivational posters

SURVIVAL
"when you are in deep trouble, say nothing
and try to look like you know what you're doing"

demotivational posters

BIRTH CONTROL
"Because if you aren't careful,
one of these could be yours"

demotivational posters

ENVY
"it wears a coat and hangs out in hallways"

demotivational posters

ENDCAT
"I will end you, and all you love"

demotivational posters

CAMEL SPIDERS
"you didn't need the sleep anyway"

demotivational posters

MOM'S MINIVAN
"Less conformist than the bus"

demotivational posters

HORNY DOG
"He's coming for your cat"

demotivational posters

GIANORMOUS SPIDERS
"Natures reminder that you are,
in fact, a little girl"

demotivational posters

HALT!
"Hammerzeit"

demotivational posters
demotivational posters / Motivational

Woman Killed by Husbands Coffin

What a Bizarre world we live in.

A woman has died on the way to a cemetery when a traffic accident hurled her husband's coffin against the back of her neck.

The hearse was struck from behind by an Alfa Romeo car, police said. 67-year old Marciana Silva Barcelos was in the front passenger seat of the hearse when the accident occurred Monday in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul .The woman was on the way to the cemetery to bury her husband, who had died the day before.

Barcelos died instantly.

Her 76-year-old husband Josi Silveira Coimbra died Sunday of a heart attack while dancing at a party.

The driver of hearse and Barcelos' son suffered minor injuries.

Following the accident, the driver of the Alfa Romeo was trapped for around 50 minutes in the wreckage and was taken to hospital where he was put under observation.

The driver of the hearse and a son of the dead man, who was also travelling in the hearse, were treated for minor injuries.

An investigation is now underway to determine the cause of the accident.

BBC and -AP

7 Guaranteed Ways to Increase your AdSense Revenue

#7 Use Bigger sizes. Bigger ads = Bigger dollars. Who cares if they completely take over your site. (OK maybe your readers do.)

#6 Ad MORE units. This one is a no brainier, but the more ads you have on a page, the more ad revenue you will make. Sure, there is a law of diminishing returns, but that will only affect each ad unit, not the overall revenue.

#5 is Change your Colors. This one is easy to do and will help your $, but most people are just too lazy and use the default colors. (me too:)

#4 Jam the Ads in key spots. Sure you should have content at the top of the post, but the bloggers who jam AdSense units right at the top of the post make more money than you do…

#3 Stuff keywords everywhere. It is the spam blogs that generate the bulk of Google’s long tail revenue, you know the sites, they contain virtually no real information, just a bunch of nonsensical keywords related to what you are really looking for. Do a search on Google for ‘make money online’ and take a look at some of those results. Have a look at this site in the top 10… Make Money Online Everything above the fold is an advertising link in some way, and has the words ‘make money’ in almost every sentence on the page. Also try the ‘Make money at home’ and click on the 2nd result… MMAH. Can you stuff anymore keywords on that page!!

#2 Be nice to Google. Bitch slapping them like I do, does NOT help your revenue in any way, trust me…

#1 Write crappier content. There is a direct inverse relationship to your effective CPM on AdSense and how good your content is. If users really love what you write, they tend not to click away to something else. If you write really low quality stuff, the readers who are looking for something useful will click on your AdSense away to something that they were actually looking for…

Written by Chad at AdvertiseSpace.com

Thanks Chad for saying that we can steal this post!

Need A Decent Adsense Template? Try this post

Getting a Higher CTR from Google Adsense on Blogger

So you want a higher Click Thru / Through Ratio from Google adsense on Blogger eh?

Well assuming you have good quality content and your blog is already showing up on Google search and Google Blogs then follow these 3 simple steps.

1. Template : This very page you are looking at is using a template that I got free, off the web from some very kind people who designed them to fit in with the Google Adsense, See here >
2. Colours : Experimenting with a variety of colours will yield different results. I am forever changing mine around but at the moment I have settled on a more high contrst type for my most successful blog site, see here >>
3. Most Importantly! : How do you monitor how many people click your individual Adsense Ad Unit, how can you track them? Answer. Sign Up for Statcounter >> its a free service and absolutely essential to not only tracking your visitors, but tracking which ad units work best. They have a new feature called "exit link activity" and if you click on the links, they show you the AdSense ad that your visitor clicked on. Awesome!

In addition, it would be worth reading about the google heat map if you have not already done so, this will also provide Google Adsense's recommendations for where to place your ads in your new template

Best of Luck!

New Zealand's New Prime Minister, John Key

Well, I did not vote for him but in the spirit of fairness, we have to give the guy a chance.

Many Kiwis fear that John Key and the New Zealand National Party may take the country over to the right and undo some of the good work that Labour has done, such as Kiwibank, Kiwirail and Kiwi Saver.

Labour knew that Private business is not the saviour of everything, Tranzrail spent most of its time letting the NZ rail network fall into disrepair while funnelling the profits to their Australian owners, same with the Banks. Kiwirail will hopefully stop this from happening again, even though the government had to pay a pretty penny to buy it back into public ownership. Hopefully John Key and the New National Party Government will respect that.

I myself work in an Education support role and do worry a bit as to how safe my job will be under a National Government. I do not have anything against private business, I just think that private business should make it profits outside the zone of essential public services such as Education, health, Emergency services and even transport.

I hope that the New, New Zealand Government will not make sweeping changes to public services and respects that the private sector cannot fix every problem we have,

Good luck Mr Key, I did not vote for you but congratulations on a good campaign.

Muzzerino

Good on Ya Helen !

Great Job Helen!

All the best for the Future!

The Media Wins NZ Election

The Media party has successfully won the 2008 NZ Election.

After a relentless onslaught of a minor political party, the New Zealand media, supported by other parties has successfully squashed one of NZ's most influential parties. NZ First.

Winston Peters, leader of NZ First has appeared to concede defeat to the media party and in an ironic twist, the media party of NZ has been talking about how boring the NZ parliament will be without him.

Officially of course, New Zealand National in conjunction with the NZ Media Party have won the election.

After months and months of mud slinging, the only true opponent with any real integrity has effectively been neutralised.

John McClane : President 2012

Fictional character John McClane of Die Hard fame has expressed
interest in running for US President in 2012.

Critics say that because he is a fictional character,
he will not be able to stand for office.

This bias toward fictional characters has only polarised John McClanes
Presidential campaign and he has been quoted as

"more determined than ever to bring balance, between fictional and real people"

An Anonymous source has also quoted John McClane as saying

"if a superhero such as George W Bush can be president, then why cant I?"

Vote John McClane 2012

photos / pictures / images / widescreen / wallpaper / desktops

Everyone Chill the Fuck Out. I Got This!

I dont normally post stuff with swear words but this President Barack Obama image was too hard to resist. Enjoy. Everyone Chill the Fuck Out, I Got This! : President Elect, Barack Obama

Is America Cool Again ?

Growing up in Scotland, especially during the early 90's we were bombarded by American television and Movies, much as we are now. But then, for me I was very influenced by it.

In Scotland, indeed across the whole of the UK, we are not patriotic in the same sense as Americans are, at least not when you are a teenager. There is nothing "cool" about being 12 of 13 years old and living in Edinburgh even though it is one of the world finest cities.

At that awkward adolescence, I myself was always jealous of what people of a similar age were up to across the pond. Hollywood movies would portray teenagers with their own cars on their way to the prom on a Friday night, while various TV shows would show the lifestyle of a 15 year old as they went surfing at the local Californian beach on a summers day.

This is of course the image of America that is sells to the world and I have to admit, once upon a time, I was sold.

As an adult I now know better, America has more than its fair share of social problems, crime, poverty etc and in fact are far worse off in many ways than we are in Scotland.

Over the last 8 years with Bush and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this negative image of America has been compounded in my mind.

But now something has changed, given the racism and poverty of the US, they have just done what no other nation has, they have elected a black African American to the office of President.
Not only that but Obama seems to be a genuinely nice guy, an amazing orator and genuinely intelligent not to mention the fact that he has experience living abroad.

The whole package seems like the opposite to what we have come to expect from a US President. I sincerely hope that Barack Obama does well as President of the worlds most powerful nation state, it will serve as a fantastic advert for the USA in general.

I have to admit, I am coming around to thinking of the US as being cool again...

Muzzerino