Just gotten back from the Auckland Symphony Orchestra rehearsal. The orchestra is rehearsing for a Friday night Christmas performance at the Auckland Town Hall. Due to a few of the regulars being absent, my violin/viola teacher invited my brothers and I to play with the orchestra for this concert. So if you're free on Friday the 3rd December, come along to the Town Hall at about 7:00pm and try spot me in the orchestra! I'll be playing the viola in the...viola section. Aonghas will be playing 2nd violin while Hamish won't be there at all and instead will be dining with his fellow year 13s at the farewell dinner.

Auckland Symphony Orchestra

Friday 3 December, 7:30pm

Auckland Town Hall

FREE

It's really great playing in a full-piece symphony orchestra, as every single orchestra I've ever played in has comprised of less than 20 musicians, and I've more than often been the only violia player in it! It's really cool having the brass blasting your ears behind you, because in school orchestras....well there aren't any brass instruments full stop! I now really want to join an orchestra! I've been thinking of the Aotea Youth Symphony Orchestra. I might try auditioin one day, but first I probably need to pass an exam!

NOW for my rant and rave for the day: The Civil Union Bill
So instead of having husbands/wives/spouses, partners who have a civil union will be called 'Civil Union Partners' will be called CUPs? That is completely ridiculous! Of course the Select Committee would be in favour of the Civil Union Bill because it is none other than gay Labour MP Tim Barnett who chairs the committee! I would not have a problem with the Civil Union Bill if it were only open to homosexuals, but not if heterosexual couples are allowed to have one. It will make a mess, especially since the Civil Union Act will apparently be so similar to the Marriage Act. If heterosexual couples are given the choice of marriage or a civil union, things will be like 'So...Mary's your wife aye?' 'No she's my Cup' Let's keep it simple - gays can have a civil union; straights have marriage.

Anyone notice 3News' new theme song? To me it doesn't sound 'newsy' at all and sounds pretty cheap and low budget. Looks like ONE News and 3News did a swap-around of colours. Originally it was ONE News with the orange/yellow colour and 3News with the bluey green colour. Now its the complete opposite.

With John Campbell set to host his new current affairs show at 7pm next year, Paul Holmes hosting his own show 7pm on Prime and TV One having their own show with most likely currently Closeup @ 7 host Susan Wood, Breakfast host Paul Henry (or maybe even Hugh Sundae as The Herald on Sunday has put forward), the 7pm slot will definitely be dominated by current affairs. Could this benefit Shortland St as the only non-news show at that timeslot? Or maybe even the music videos on C4?

It will be really interesting to see what TVNZ Head of News and Current Affairs Bill Ralston decides to do with that 7pm slot. What is really needed is good analysis of the day's news, and hopefully they will deliver.

I just found out that everyone went back to school today for half a day to return their books and get their yearbook! This might be the first time I’ve wagged school (if you can call it that) I wonder if the twins went to school today though…

 

I’m still searching for a part-time job for the holidays. So far I’ve applied at Pak N’ Save. That was a couple of months ago though, and still no reply. To be honest, I don’t really know if I do want to work at Pak N’ Save or not. I’d much rather work at a smaller place like McDonalds or Burger King, but I’d be happy just to have a job. I’m kinda looking forward to meeting new people…;)

Check this website out Calum’s Home Page. I’ve now been included in the list of ‘Calums’ from around the world!

 

Yesterday was Aonghas's Birthday!! (28th November)

We celebrated by going to church, and spent the day at a pet shop, which was kinda like visiting the zoo, only free!

The side effects of the isotane (pimple removing) pills are starting to kick in. I've been having to rub lip balm on my dry lips and my skin's starting to go dry as well. Still no sign of the increased growth or hair loss yet though (preferably growth upwards and LEG hair loss), and Aonghas is catching up to my height pretty quickly!!

I really have no idea which day I'm supposed to go to school to return my books. Three of my friends say it's today (Monday) whereas I thought it was going to be on Wednesday since it said that on the form. I rang my good friends (the twins) and they told me that we could come any day. I really want to see everyone again before the holidays but I don't know whether to give everyone or only a few people a Christmas card. Last year I couldn't bear to miss anyone out so I gave one to everyone in my form class! This year I haven't really talked to some people in my form class that much, and so it'd be a bit weird to give some people I don't know too well a Christmas card.
I still haven't bought any presents for anyone yet! So I'll come to school on Wednesday instead...I think...

Check out my friend Bojana's blog

I forgot to mention that our aunty (I think that's what she is to me???? the family tree on my mum's side is muddled up) gave us about 11 really big goldfish. She told us that she was going to throw them into the nearby river and that we could have them if we wanted. If we didn't want to look after them, we could eat them! We decided to keep them as pets, but we then realised our fishtank is pretty small! They are all swimming in there at the moment, which kinda looks like the Auckland traffic. Our water filter's been playing up as well. It seems as though the water isn't being filtered as fast as it is being pumped! This means that we've had a big puddle form under the fishtank.
Looks like our cat now has the choice of going for the fish, or going for the birds! We can guarantee that each of our pets will be safe and we will look after them very well ;)

I went to this primary school gala with my mum brother and neighbour to have a look. My mum and neighbour are really into dolls and stuff while Aonghas and I just went through the stuff to see if there was anything interesting. At first it was 50c a bag…..then 10c a bag…..then free! So you can guess how much my mum and Zippo brought back home. It’s the annual rubbish collection for our road, and when we came home Aonghas spotted a treadmill across the road, so he carried it across the road and into the house.

If you haven’t noticed yet, The New Zealand Herald has changed its website design. These days a change in design would most likely signal the introduction of subscription services in order to read articles such as The National Business Review which now only gives us one paragraph of each article for free! Let’s hope The NZ Herald will continue to be free. There aren’t too many New Zealand news websites and if more and more can only be accessed by subscribing, I’m stuffed!

Okay tonight's the night I'll start on working towards next year. By the end of these holidays I'm hoping to have gone through all of year 12 chemistry, biology (even though I'm not studying it next year) and year 13 calculus. Oh and year 12 Chinese.

 

I missed out on meeting a friend I've never met before as well as one I haven't met in a year. I'm constantly kicking myself!

 

Tomorrow morning is the local Christmas parade as well as this mini Violin Concert I've got to perform at so all's on tomorrow.

I’ve been invited to a friend’s farewell party tomorrow but the only problem is I can’t get there because my dad will be working tomorrow and he’s the only person in my family who can drive to places outside of Henderson (my mum can drive by the way). This would’ve been a good chance to meet a friend I haven’t seen for a whole year and meet another friend I haven’t met at all. This would be my last chance to meet her before she goes off to India!! I don’t know what to do…

Yesterday I finally got my pills which will help clear my face from pimples and !!hopefully!! make me look a lot better. The pharmacist who suggested that I should make an appointment with a dermatologist was like:

“Oh so you saw him? That’s excellent! Your face will be clear in no time! It does wonders! However…you will experience dry lips, nose bleeds and you’ll have to cover up in the sun to avoid burning…”

Very encouraging…

The pills I’m taking are called Isotane. This is what I found on the internet on this medicine:

 

Tell your doctor if you notice any of the following and they worry you:

• dryness of the lips, mouth, throat, nose, eyes and skin, a moisturiser or petroleum jelly can be used to soften the lining of the nose, lips and the skin areas not affected by the acne
• skin eruptions, rashes and itching, inflammation, redness, sweating or colouration
• nail inflammation, infection or altered appearance
• nosebleeds
• tenderness or stiffness in your bones, joints or muscles
• headache
• an increased susceptibility to sunburn
• hair loss or increased growth.

 

Boy am I going to have a great time in the next six months. Apparently Isotane can…

‘changes in your mood or behaviour (such as feelings of deep sadness and unworthiness or feeling "down"), or if you start to have suicidal thoughts or tendencies’.

I can confidently say that this won’t happen to me. There’s no point to being depressed because it won’t get you anywhere. You just have to enjoy life and take it as it comes and make the most of it.

 

Anyway back to Isotane! For all you pimple faces out there who need help, check out this website http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/consumers/cmi/I/isotane.htm. In order to get this you have to make an appointment with a dermatologist.

 

I’ve just gotten back from going to school to give Ruby (this Korean girl who is going back to Korea in two days) a little Christmas/Birthday present (as today happens to be her birthday). It wasn’t much, just a CD of clips of her auditions for Rutherford Idol (our school’s version of Pop Idol) and a block of chocolate. She wasn’t feeling too well so she didn’t seem too happy but at least I did my part. Although…now I might end up having to give everyone a block of chocolate because I’d feel bad for missing someone out!

THE ALL BLACKS WON!!! (26 – 25 vs. Wales)

But apart from that New Zealand’s done pretty badly in every other sport. The Black Caps aren’t doing so well in cricket against the Aussies, the Silver Ferns lost 53-51 against the Aussies in netball and the Kiwis lost against Great Britain in rugby league to end the Tri-Nations winless.

 

Went to this Tai Chi display in Howick (East Auckland) today. Great to see lots of white people joining in as well! It started raining and it was pretty cold so the conditions weren’t exactly that great, especially since my mum has a cold at the moment.

 

 

I’ve got this friend I hardly see because she lives on the other side of the city, and so the only way I can keep in touch with her is by MSN, but even so, it always seems as though the only time she ever chats to me is when there isn’t anyone else to chat to. The other day I tried chatting to her, there was like a 5 minute gap in between each reply. She told me that she was busy chatting to three guys. Tonight I thought I’d try chatting to her. This is how long the conversation lasted:

Calum:

Hey

.<Friend>:

Hey

<Friend>

I’m busy

Calum:

Ok bye then

Yeah busy chatting to all her other friends again. Am I that boring? Someone said this to me in form one at intermediate school:

“If everyone was like you, the world would be boring”

I dunno….

My neighbour Zippo made a bet with me that for $5.00 I won’t be able to find a girlfriend by the end of the year. I REALLY need $5.00, so if any of you are single and willing to go out for me for at least a week, contact me.

你好我叫安天慈。我住在新西兰。 （hello my name is Calum. I live in New Zealand)
Check out these other websites of some of my mates like good ole Zippo:
Zippo's blog
The Andersons Website

That's Chinese all over. I think I stuffed up listening, but I managed to finish the exam one and a half hours early. I was the only one left in the exam room so I feel sorry for the poor supervisor lady I held up. I kept thinking to myself... 'should I go and let this lady get back to her life, or should I keep making sure my answers are correct?' In the end I decided to be safe.
It gave me this idea that I should start posting messages on this blog in Chinese! Never fear Pakehas....they'll be translated in English though.

Check out this article in the NZ Herald today on Bill English accusing NCEA of ‘political correctness’. He claims that using Maori names as fictional characters that feature in an accounting exam is political correctness. How petty is that? The National Party are on the slide, and cannot make an impact with the media, so Bill English looks for every little thing possible that he can make a meal out of. Does he actually think the students will notice or even care what the name of the companies or the characters are? The students’ main concern and focus is to complete and pass the exam. I’m sure none of the students will even remember any of the names a few hours after the exam!  

Bill English of the National Party claims NCEA to be bordering on 'political correctnes' just because in the accounting exam yesterday fictional characters used had Maori names. How petty is that? Just because National is so behind in the polls, he has to find something to attack the government with. Who really cares? Students are more concerned about finishing the exam than whether or not they can pronounce the person's name. After they have finished their exam, what are the chances of them remembering it?

I've finally finished my history exam. Because I was doing one less paper, I had one hour to spare and so I sat there waiting for my friend to finish so I could leave at the same time as him. He didn't leave till the end so I sat there for an hour checking and rechecking my exam. I wrote a 3 and a half page essay on actions the aggressor nations took between 1931-1937 which caused tension in Europe and Asia, and how the League and other countries responded to it. My perspectives assessment was on the 1963 Birmingham Campaign. Two more to go - Chinese and year 12 maths. Tomorrow's the last time I see Ruby, this girl in my Chinese class, and so I oughta burn for her the videos of her auditions for Rutherford Idol (she came 2nd). She'll be going back to Korea next week so it'll be a lose to Rutherford College. Our school really needs good singers! (not that we don't have any, just that we have only a few)

LOOK!!!!!!!!

hey u guys i trust u not to send this to anyone. LOOK!!! FROM ROSE!!!!

 

a o n g h a s

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Rose He

To: big_busker@hotmail.com

Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 7:46 PM

Subject: So SORRY

Hey aonghas,

 

just thought that i should write to you to apologise for being so stink(in cresilda's words) to you today. I mean i should really start to think about what impact my actions have on other people!

 

First of all, here i was, complaining to you about how i think i was going to fail english. You kept saying that it was impossible. But then when i got my results back and i was satisfied with my mark, i was all relieved and happy, which probably made you sad 'cause i did better than you(there was probably ohter reasons too!). I really didn't mean to brag about my mark right in your face.

 

but you DID do good! i mean some people got not achieved and achieved, and you did better than that! Besides, the english mark isn't everything. what about science you came first!! -And maths, you are first equal-that still means first! And social studies-third. I mean, your exams marks added together definitely would be in the top 3, if not 1, of the whole class! -now its kaleidoscope we're talking about here, the TOP of the year nine classes.

 

You should look on the bright side, at least you actually came First in something.

 

see you at school,

 

Rose

Oh that’s right…NO MORE GEOLOGY!!!!

Just got back from my three hour science exam which finished at five. Man its been a long day with two exams. First was a three hour accounting exam in the morning. After that, there was a one and a half hour gap before the science exam. I managed to finish the accounting exam half an hour early, but only because I’m guessing one paper was cut out of the exam. Nonetheless I’m hoping it went well, but I don’t want to jinx it! Science was a bit more challenging but it was manageable which was good. A few questions were a bit difficult though but I’ll have to see how it goes. Biology and physics weren’t too bad, but chemistry and geology were a bit harder. Its kinda making me rethink about whether I should take chemistry next year or if I should take biology. I always thought of chemistry but…

Anyway I’ve got my history exam tomorrow so I better start revising over Origins of WWII and NZ Search for Security. I’m starting to really miss going to school and all the guys there!

Just got a call from my neighbour Zippo who wanted to share her good news with me – the guy she likes rang her! For the past couple of weeks she’s been pressuring me to ring this girl…

It all goes back to the beginning of the year when I first met my new neighbour Zippo. Her sister told me she was interested in me n told me that I should ask her out, so that’s what I did. Guess what? I got dumped the next day. So anyway a few weeks later it was her birthday party and all her friends were over, including the girl who, when she first saw me a while ago when I went over to drop off some vegetables for them, laughed at how ugly I was because I wasn’t as ‘hot’ as all of Zippo’s ex-boyfriends. Anyway back to that party…the girls hinted that this girl was interested in me and Zippo told me why she dumped me so soon – because I was like the girl and always waited for the first move, and so she tried convincing me to make the first move on this girl at the party (whose name I shall not mention). Maybe a hug or even a kiss on the cheek. I had never done this and was not planning on it, but in the end just as I was leaving, I did the stupid thing and went ahead with it. Instead, I missed and yeah…got her hair.

So now they’re telling me this girl still likes me when I highly doubt it. Especially when at school they tease each other about them liking a guy and when they tease this girl about liking me, she exclaims ‘Why do I always have to get the ugly guys?’ I ain’t dumb enough to fall for any more tricks and I certainly won’t embarrass myself yet again. (Apparently, this girl has been going to counselling all because of me! Doubt that too though)

I've got five more exams coming up, with accounting and science tomorrow, history on Thursday, Chinese on Friday and year 12 maths next Tuesday. After that, I'll be free! Best thing is no more Geology!!!

Welcome to The Republic of Calum where I, Calum, will be regularly be posting stuff on my own little thoughts and happenings. If you want to read any past posts, check this page out: http://calum.rediffblogs.com.

Just watched the news, and saw that girl who's been missing for the last few days has finally been found. Where? Above the ceiling in the church next door to the girl's grandparents house. Who knows why she did it, but it certainly wasted a lot of police effort and precious time when they could instead be aiming to meet their quotas and fining those speeding motorists.

This documentary The Brown Factor on TV ONE tonight also explored the factors that have resulted in more Pacific Islanders and Maoris playing rugby. Interesting to note that when Pacific Islanders first arrived in NZ they were always slagged, badmouthed, and considered as overstayers. Now they are more or less accepted in our society. Maybe this is what is happening all the new Asian immigrants coming to New Zealand? Maybe it takes a few Asians to get into the All Blacks before they get accepted into NZ's society? Who knows...

After a long time I've rediscovered this blog and thought I better continue for the better of this world! This week and next is NCEA exam week. I've already had year 11 maths and this morning I just sat my English exam (the worst exam you could possibly sit - 4 essays + unfamiliar text/reading comprehension!!!!) Both have gone pretty bad...well maths was a lot harder than expected. They changed the format and the wording of some of the questions, mainly the excellence ones were confusing. The Calum Curse continues... I've got the rest of today and tomorrow off before my run of exams continues with Science and accounting on wednesday, history on thursday, Chinese on Friday, and year 12 maths the following Tuesday. After that, no more!!

I hoped to get all excellences for NCEA, but it is looking unlikely now after exams. Prior to exams, I had 42 credits, 39 excellence and 3 merit. After the external exams I hope my grade point average doesn't fall too much!

In prize-giving I got merit in English, accounting, history and 1st in Chinese and year 12 maths. The worst thing of all was that I got the same mark as the people who came first in accounting and year 11 English, but according to my teacher I had 'status' and was most likely going to win a lot of other awards anyway. How wrong could she be!

Anyway I'm off to study accounting and I'll continue to post for whoever bothers to read this