I am a cricket fan. I played cricket at school. I played cricket when I left school and even played while I was living in Japan. I have played cricket in four different countries and it would be quite nice to play in other countries but that is for later.
In the international game, the 20 over format of the game has taken off around the world. Presently in South Africa, the T20 Champions League is taking place. This is like the football equivalent with the winners of the various domestic leagues fighting it out.
However, the grandaddy of it all is the IPL or the Indian Premier League. Since this has started, various other countries have tried to create their own leagues. Australia has the BBL which seems semi-successful. Sri Lanka started the SLPL. Bangladesh also had the BPL and I'm sure South Africa and the West Indies have something. I know that the West Indies had quite an awesome competition until their benefactor got chucked in jail.
New Zealand also has it own competition called the HRV Cup. It started in it's current format a couple of seasons ago and has quite a bit of television coverage. Traditionally domestic cricket in New Zealand hasn't had a great deal of coverage on TV.
So, can an IPL type league in New Zealand succeed. In a word, No. However I do have some ideas on how to make the HRV Cup more marketable.
1. This year the HRV Cup starts on November 2 with one game a week on Friday nights. Yes, not a great idea. Can you imagine watching cricket at night in the beginning of November? One word, brrrrrrr. I know they want the television coverage and they don't have much competition on those nights with the exception of the A-League or the NBL but this kind of cricket needs to be played in late December early January, period. No arguments. That is when it is played.
2. This is not a new idea and they do it but let me emphasize it, here is where you play these games, Mount Manganui, New Plymouth, Napier, Kerikeri, Paraparaumu, Nelson, Rotorua, Queenstown, Taupo, Gisborne (sorry, I don't know the holiday spots in the South Island very well) Why these places? This is where people go on holiday and I know when you are on holiday you are looking to do stuff and a HRV Cup is perfect. I go to the stock cars when I am at Mount Manganui and enjoy it. Do you think cricket would get the same type of people coming to it? You bet.
3. The pitches have to be better. People want to come and watch 195 plays 190, not 103 all out plays 105 for 8. They want to see sixes and fours and exceptional fielding like this. They want to see wickets all over the place. This is no different to what Kerry Packer had thought when he created World Series Cricket in 1977.
4. I think that I have said this in a previous post and I am going to say it again I think that it is time for cricket players to start specialising. Either you are going to play first class/test cricket or you are going to play T20 cricket. (I don't know where 50 over cricket fits into that.) I think we are seeing it more and more with T20 specialists. People like David Warner, Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum say that they love playing for their country and they love playing test matches, and I'm sure that they do, especially McCullum but when push comes to shove and if they had to choose then they would go for T20, not just for the money but for the less strain that it puts on the body and I think they like playing in front of the big crowds. I know I would. New Zealand could lead the way in this by saying that you either play one or the other.
5. For the HRV Cup to succeed unfortunately you need to bring in overseas players. I say unfortunately because ideally you want your home grown players to be playing but like basketball and football that just isn't realistic. I think you have to bring the best players. That is just how it is. A couple of years ago Central Districts had Michael Yardy and Ian Blackwell as their overseas players. Both very good players who have played county cricket for a long time and have on occasions played for England. From what I could tell they both made great contributions but those players don't get people to the grounds. Chris Gayle does. David Warner does. Tillakaratne Dilshan does. Virender Sehwag does. That is a lot of money you need. Will you get it back? Maybe.
6. For those of you who don't know T20 cricket originated from a game called Cricket Max which was invented by former New Zealand batsman Martin Crowe. It was a 20 over game divided into four innings of 10 overs each. Bowlers could only bowl 4 overs and if you bowled a no ball the next ball was a free hit. Also there was a zone down the ground so if you hit that you got double the runs. So as you can imagine there were some massive scores. I went to the final in 1997 in Napier and Mark Greatbatch went absolutely nuts. So bring back the Max Zone. I know that it isn't an original idea but it is a good idea.
7. I think New Zealand cricket have to and they probably already have that the HRV Cup will not be as big as the IPL but why not try. Sometimes they need that one person to start pushing them to think beyond what they have. A Donald Trump type of guy could do that. Who do we have in New Zealand that would force them to think big? The Mad Butcher? He's a rugby league guy though.
8. I don't have great knowledge of the running of the IPL but I suppose like most professional franchise teams they are owned by one guy. New Zealand cricket needs to go cap in hand to these people. Is Graeme Hart a cricket fan? I doubt he would want to invest in a cricket team but you never know. After all for a lot of these guys, owning a sports team is an ego thing. Like they have done in Australia the six provinces need to change to a franchise system. Who knows, if I some money I might buy one.
9. Cricket generally in New Zealand needs to get its popularity back. Come to think of it, to compare the HRV Cup and the IPL is like comparing Tokyo and Palmerston North, you can't. But as the Chinese say a journey starts with a single step and for the HRV Cup to succeed cricket needs to regain its fans and how does that happen? The national team does better.
10. I'm not sure what the viewer figures are but does the HRV Cup need to be a bit more on terrestrial television. It is a Catch-22 though because pay TV is where you get your money from. If it is on TV a bit more would more fans pay for Sky? I'm sure they have done some research for that.
Saturday, 20 October 2012
Friday, 19 October 2012
How can Palmerston North market itself better in Japan
As regular readers of my blog will know, I was born, bred and educated in Palmerston North, New Zealand. I have also lived the last 15 years of my life in Japan. So I am qualified to talk from both points of view. How should Palmerston North market itself better for the Japanese market?
Here are my ideas:
1. The city council or the people that do the marketing for tourism need to have a Japanese language website. I wrote Palmerston North in Japanese into the google search engine and the first site was the Wikipedia Japanese page. The next one was someone's tour diary and the third one was a generic tourist one. Not necessarily for Palmerston North but for New Zealand.
2. Palmerston North needs to market itself as the City of Knowledge. I know in the 1990's, Palmerston North was marketed as the City of Knowledge and for good reason. I know that Massey University and IPC would do their own marketing but can they combine forces with the city to market as one, or are they in competition with each other?
3. Palmerston North needs to combine with the rugby academy to get Japanese rugby players here. I know that they probably have many Japanese players already but imagine what it would be like for Palmerston North to be known as the home of rugby in New Zealand.
4. For about three or four years while I was living in Japan I would entertain a teacher from a high school in Palmerston North. He was on a tour in Asia trying to recruit students for his school. I'm not sure if the other high schools do this but is it possible for the schools of this area to collaborate and to enhance the city of Knowledge theme by saying that Palmerston North is the place to get a high school education?
5. Palmerston North needs to market itself as the English language capital of New Zealand. The city that you can come to and it is cheap to live and you can learn English in a great environment. Some Japanese people pay big money to learn English so why can't Palmerston North get a slice of that pie?
6. Farm stays are popular amongst Japanese tourists and this is one way to get tourists to come to the Manawatu. I know that there are numerous diary farms in this area. I'm sure that tourists would love the opportunity to stay for a couple of nights and help with milking in the mornings. This is something that may not be done in downtown Tokyo and I think that the tourists would love it.
7. How can Palmerston North and the Manawatu use their windmills to market to the Japanese population? This is something that is rare in Japan with it's reliance on nuclear power, although in saying that, nuclear power for obvious reasons seem to be on the way out in the land of the rising sun, so Palmerston North could market itself as the clean power of New Zealand, so why don't you come and see the windmills? It could be interesting. Actually come to think of it, I haven't been up to the windmills yet. Maybe I should.
8. Golf!!! There are some interesting golf courses in and around the Palmerston North area. Japanese tourists could base themselves in Palmerston North and play a different course over a 5 day to a week period. They could start at Manawatu, then go to Rangitira, maybe play at Apiti. That course is unique with the small fences around the greens to keep the grazing sheep out. Possible other courses could be Rangitikei with the last round being at awesome courses like Cape Kidnappers or Paraparaumu.
9. Baseball is the number one sport in Japan. It is covered on television every day during the season and millions of fans go to the stadiums during the season. However in the winter Japan as you can imagine it gets quite cold and baseball, although played can be quite uncomfortable in the cold. Do you think if the proper facilities were built, a Japanese team or a number of Japanese teams would come to train in our summer? This idea is out of left field, so to speak but it is doable. Pardon the pun.
10. Finally, why don't we market Palmerston North as what it is, a stable, middle of the road, real New Zealand town with education, sporting and tourist opportunities? That sounds quite boring but that is what it is. Take it or leave it.
Here are my ideas:
1. The city council or the people that do the marketing for tourism need to have a Japanese language website. I wrote Palmerston North in Japanese into the google search engine and the first site was the Wikipedia Japanese page. The next one was someone's tour diary and the third one was a generic tourist one. Not necessarily for Palmerston North but for New Zealand.
2. Palmerston North needs to market itself as the City of Knowledge. I know in the 1990's, Palmerston North was marketed as the City of Knowledge and for good reason. I know that Massey University and IPC would do their own marketing but can they combine forces with the city to market as one, or are they in competition with each other?
3. Palmerston North needs to combine with the rugby academy to get Japanese rugby players here. I know that they probably have many Japanese players already but imagine what it would be like for Palmerston North to be known as the home of rugby in New Zealand.
4. For about three or four years while I was living in Japan I would entertain a teacher from a high school in Palmerston North. He was on a tour in Asia trying to recruit students for his school. I'm not sure if the other high schools do this but is it possible for the schools of this area to collaborate and to enhance the city of Knowledge theme by saying that Palmerston North is the place to get a high school education?
5. Palmerston North needs to market itself as the English language capital of New Zealand. The city that you can come to and it is cheap to live and you can learn English in a great environment. Some Japanese people pay big money to learn English so why can't Palmerston North get a slice of that pie?
6. Farm stays are popular amongst Japanese tourists and this is one way to get tourists to come to the Manawatu. I know that there are numerous diary farms in this area. I'm sure that tourists would love the opportunity to stay for a couple of nights and help with milking in the mornings. This is something that may not be done in downtown Tokyo and I think that the tourists would love it.
7. How can Palmerston North and the Manawatu use their windmills to market to the Japanese population? This is something that is rare in Japan with it's reliance on nuclear power, although in saying that, nuclear power for obvious reasons seem to be on the way out in the land of the rising sun, so Palmerston North could market itself as the clean power of New Zealand, so why don't you come and see the windmills? It could be interesting. Actually come to think of it, I haven't been up to the windmills yet. Maybe I should.
8. Golf!!! There are some interesting golf courses in and around the Palmerston North area. Japanese tourists could base themselves in Palmerston North and play a different course over a 5 day to a week period. They could start at Manawatu, then go to Rangitira, maybe play at Apiti. That course is unique with the small fences around the greens to keep the grazing sheep out. Possible other courses could be Rangitikei with the last round being at awesome courses like Cape Kidnappers or Paraparaumu.
9. Baseball is the number one sport in Japan. It is covered on television every day during the season and millions of fans go to the stadiums during the season. However in the winter Japan as you can imagine it gets quite cold and baseball, although played can be quite uncomfortable in the cold. Do you think if the proper facilities were built, a Japanese team or a number of Japanese teams would come to train in our summer? This idea is out of left field, so to speak but it is doable. Pardon the pun.
10. Finally, why don't we market Palmerston North as what it is, a stable, middle of the road, real New Zealand town with education, sporting and tourist opportunities? That sounds quite boring but that is what it is. Take it or leave it.
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Inspiration in the movies
Today I would like to change tune a little and talk about movies. I'm sure everyone out there have watched a few movies in their time and probably have two or three movies that are your favourites.
What are my favourite movies and what ones have been an inspiration for me? Lets have a look:
1. Empire of the Sun: This is a Stephen Spielberg movie and it is a coming of age movie starring a very young Christian Bale. There is no Batman here. I like how the young hero in the movie changed from a spoiled little boy who basically lived in the lap of luxury in wartime Shanghai to a boy who had to grow up very quickly in a prison camp.
2. Chariots of Fire: This movie is set in and before the 1924 Paris Olympics. It is centered around two main characters, Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell. Both are determined sprinters and are looking to get to the Olympics despite difficulties. Liddell is very christian and his family members want him to do church work while Harold Abrahams is Jewish and has a very professional attitude to his running despite the time being a very gentleman-like amateur period. The idea of competing was more than the idea of running and winning. I like how both athletes over came their problems to win a gold medal and fulfill a dream.
3. The Shawshank Redemption: What guy doesn't say that this movie is one of their favourite movies? When you ever ask a guy what their favourite movie is they will all say this one. Sometimes you wonder if they are saying it because they don't want to say Weekend at Bernie's or Weekend at Bernie's 2 but it is an inspirational film and it has taught me persistence. The fact that he took 20 years to get out of their. He knew that he wasn't guilty but he didn't fight and protest he just went about his job and didn't make any commotion with the exception of a couple of times and he finally got his freedom.
4. Dead Poet's Society: If you are not a Robin Williams fan you may want to give this a miss because you think that it will be all full of his type of comedy, but this is one of those movies that he plays a serious role and I reckon that he has influenced a generation of teachers. I like it how he challenges the traditional way of thinking of the school and in doing that inspires the boys to think a little bit more out of the box than what they normally would have done. I also like the list of characters in the movie with their different personalities. I can certainly identify with one of them, although I am not going to tell you which one it is.
5. Forrest Gump: Quite frankly this is one of the best movies ever made. I like how someone so, and I hate to use this word, simple could achieve so much with just hard work, determination, loyalty and trust. I like how they incorporated a whole bunch of world events in the movie and I also liked the friendships that Forrest made in the movie. It showed me the beauty of friendship and that if you look after them they will look after you. I also enjoyed Forrest Gump investing in a "fruit company." I wonder how much those shares are worth now.
6. The World's Fastest Indian: I had to put in a New Zealand movie, didn't I. I first saw this movie on a flight from Tokyo to Sydney. I had never heard of it and so had bypassed it for other movies on the flight until I saw what it was about and I thought that I better watch it. Burt Munro is an inspiration to people who have a dream and will do anything to achieve it. The fact that he is portrayed as a common man makes it even more inspirational. The persistence he shows and the love to his chosen profession makes it obvious that he is going to achieve his goal. I think the key word is love. He loved what he was doing and he did it. Fantastic.
7. Cast away: Another Tom Hanks movie. Is there a pattern developing here? For people who don't know this movie, Tom Hanks plays a FedEx executive who catches a ride on a trip to the South Pacific and unfortunately the plan crashes. He survives and the whole movie is about his four and a half years on the island. I like it how he survived and became very resourceful with what he had. He was also driven by the love of his wife and the will to survive.
8. The Pursuit of Happyness: This is another awesome true story of persistence, hard work and love. Chris Gardner was struggling as a salesman for medical devices and lost his wife and home. All he had was his son and the ability to work. He worked smart and with a combination of good luck and good management managed to make it as a stock broker and the rest is history.
9. Braveheart: No, it isn't because I like to see guys in skirts. Braveheart is another example of what can be achieved with combination of love and having a purpose. William Wallace wanted the English out of his country and he fought and ultimately lost his life for that purpose. It was obvious his love of his country as well as for a woman that inspired him to do what he did. When I think about it the love of someone is an important ingredient in success. It allows you to have a rock behind you encouraging you, supporting you in your attempt to do something special.
10. Yes Man : A Jim Carrey movie I hear you say. I'm a bit like you in when I think about Jim Carrey I think of his slapstick movies and his funny faces and sometimes, unintelligible dialogue. The message in this movie is that life is full of opportunities and if you keep on turning your back on them then eventually life might turn it's back on you. So if you have time to do things do it. Say yes to life as they say in the movie. You may only get one chance so you may as well give it a go. Do you think Felix Baumgartner even thought about it before he said yes?
What are the main themes in these movies? Persistence, Love, Hard Work are some of the major ones. I think if you find a purpose and work at it with persistence then you can achieve anything. These movies are examples of that.
What are my favourite movies and what ones have been an inspiration for me? Lets have a look:
1. Empire of the Sun: This is a Stephen Spielberg movie and it is a coming of age movie starring a very young Christian Bale. There is no Batman here. I like how the young hero in the movie changed from a spoiled little boy who basically lived in the lap of luxury in wartime Shanghai to a boy who had to grow up very quickly in a prison camp.
2. Chariots of Fire: This movie is set in and before the 1924 Paris Olympics. It is centered around two main characters, Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell. Both are determined sprinters and are looking to get to the Olympics despite difficulties. Liddell is very christian and his family members want him to do church work while Harold Abrahams is Jewish and has a very professional attitude to his running despite the time being a very gentleman-like amateur period. The idea of competing was more than the idea of running and winning. I like how both athletes over came their problems to win a gold medal and fulfill a dream.
3. The Shawshank Redemption: What guy doesn't say that this movie is one of their favourite movies? When you ever ask a guy what their favourite movie is they will all say this one. Sometimes you wonder if they are saying it because they don't want to say Weekend at Bernie's or Weekend at Bernie's 2 but it is an inspirational film and it has taught me persistence. The fact that he took 20 years to get out of their. He knew that he wasn't guilty but he didn't fight and protest he just went about his job and didn't make any commotion with the exception of a couple of times and he finally got his freedom.
4. Dead Poet's Society: If you are not a Robin Williams fan you may want to give this a miss because you think that it will be all full of his type of comedy, but this is one of those movies that he plays a serious role and I reckon that he has influenced a generation of teachers. I like it how he challenges the traditional way of thinking of the school and in doing that inspires the boys to think a little bit more out of the box than what they normally would have done. I also like the list of characters in the movie with their different personalities. I can certainly identify with one of them, although I am not going to tell you which one it is.
5. Forrest Gump: Quite frankly this is one of the best movies ever made. I like how someone so, and I hate to use this word, simple could achieve so much with just hard work, determination, loyalty and trust. I like how they incorporated a whole bunch of world events in the movie and I also liked the friendships that Forrest made in the movie. It showed me the beauty of friendship and that if you look after them they will look after you. I also enjoyed Forrest Gump investing in a "fruit company." I wonder how much those shares are worth now.
6. The World's Fastest Indian: I had to put in a New Zealand movie, didn't I. I first saw this movie on a flight from Tokyo to Sydney. I had never heard of it and so had bypassed it for other movies on the flight until I saw what it was about and I thought that I better watch it. Burt Munro is an inspiration to people who have a dream and will do anything to achieve it. The fact that he is portrayed as a common man makes it even more inspirational. The persistence he shows and the love to his chosen profession makes it obvious that he is going to achieve his goal. I think the key word is love. He loved what he was doing and he did it. Fantastic.
7. Cast away: Another Tom Hanks movie. Is there a pattern developing here? For people who don't know this movie, Tom Hanks plays a FedEx executive who catches a ride on a trip to the South Pacific and unfortunately the plan crashes. He survives and the whole movie is about his four and a half years on the island. I like it how he survived and became very resourceful with what he had. He was also driven by the love of his wife and the will to survive.
8. The Pursuit of Happyness: This is another awesome true story of persistence, hard work and love. Chris Gardner was struggling as a salesman for medical devices and lost his wife and home. All he had was his son and the ability to work. He worked smart and with a combination of good luck and good management managed to make it as a stock broker and the rest is history.
9. Braveheart: No, it isn't because I like to see guys in skirts. Braveheart is another example of what can be achieved with combination of love and having a purpose. William Wallace wanted the English out of his country and he fought and ultimately lost his life for that purpose. It was obvious his love of his country as well as for a woman that inspired him to do what he did. When I think about it the love of someone is an important ingredient in success. It allows you to have a rock behind you encouraging you, supporting you in your attempt to do something special.
10. Yes Man : A Jim Carrey movie I hear you say. I'm a bit like you in when I think about Jim Carrey I think of his slapstick movies and his funny faces and sometimes, unintelligible dialogue. The message in this movie is that life is full of opportunities and if you keep on turning your back on them then eventually life might turn it's back on you. So if you have time to do things do it. Say yes to life as they say in the movie. You may only get one chance so you may as well give it a go. Do you think Felix Baumgartner even thought about it before he said yes?
What are the main themes in these movies? Persistence, Love, Hard Work are some of the major ones. I think if you find a purpose and work at it with persistence then you can achieve anything. These movies are examples of that.
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
2013 - The Next Step
For people who know me, then you know my story. For people who don't, I'm now living in Palmerston North, New Zealand. This is the city in which I was born and raised and educated in and left when I was 23 years old. I lived in Japan for just under 15 years and at the beginning of this year I returned to Palmerston North. I would have preferred to stay in Japan but circumstances dictated that I should return.
For the last seven months or so I have been working in the bar of a function centre at the local horse racing track. I know that this job isn't going to be for the rest of my life and I have even told my boss that I'm not going to be staying there for ever and that I will be working until the end of the year.
So, the good thing is that I have options to what I want to do in 2013. I think that it is great that in today's age we do have all of these options and one can make an educated decision on what he or she wants to do.
For me, here are some options that I have:
1. Stay working at the race course. It is quite enjoyable and I do enjoy the hours that I work. I like working on the weekend and starting work at 2 or 3 in the afternoon and working through to after midnight. Definitely not your typical 9 to 5 job.
2. Go to teacher's college and become a teacher. I taught in Japan for close to 10 years. My family think that I should do that for various reasons. They can see that I would make a god teacher. Teachers also seem to have good collegiality (I just learnt that word the other day) and holidays are good. For example 6 to 7 weeks over summer is quite nice.
3. Return to Japan and hopefully do what I did before. I was a financial adviser for expatriates in Japan. I was not successful in this job because my prospecting systems were not very good. For me to return to this I would have to look closely at these systems and do it better.
4. Become a financial adviser in Palmerston North. I have talked to a couple of people who do this job in Palmerston North and it wouldn't be too bad. I do have a good network here in my hometown and I'm sure that I will be able to tap into that and get some kind of viable business going.
5. A third option of the financial adviser stream is to go to London. I have contacts in that industry and it is another viable option. I do know people socially as well in that city so it wouldn't be a lonely existence.
6. Return to Japan and go back to being an English teacher. As I said before I spent nearly 10 years doing that job. I did enjoy it and you meet some interesting people especially when you teach in companies. I have had the honour of working in some pretty high profile companies and that is a real experience.
7. Look for a job in the tourism industry in New Zealand. This industry has always interested me and it is something that I would probably enjoy. Also you get to live in some pretty cool spots. I suppose with my ability to speak Japanese, I may be of use in places like Rotorua and Queenstown.
8. Return to university. I said before if I want to become a teacher than I would have to go to teachers college but I don't necessarily have to go there, I could look to study something else and start a new career that way. (I could be one of those mature students who sits up the front and always gets 95% on his exams.)
9. Start my own business. I don't have any ideas at the moment but there must be something out there that I can fill the gap in the market. (I sense another blog post coming along.)
10. Marry a rich woman. (No comment necessary.)
These are just ideas that I have and they are not my first choices by any means but it is good to get them down on paper so to speak. I think a big thing for me is not the job per se but where I do it. For example being a financial adviser in Napier doesn't appeal.
For the last seven months or so I have been working in the bar of a function centre at the local horse racing track. I know that this job isn't going to be for the rest of my life and I have even told my boss that I'm not going to be staying there for ever and that I will be working until the end of the year.
So, the good thing is that I have options to what I want to do in 2013. I think that it is great that in today's age we do have all of these options and one can make an educated decision on what he or she wants to do.
For me, here are some options that I have:
1. Stay working at the race course. It is quite enjoyable and I do enjoy the hours that I work. I like working on the weekend and starting work at 2 or 3 in the afternoon and working through to after midnight. Definitely not your typical 9 to 5 job.
2. Go to teacher's college and become a teacher. I taught in Japan for close to 10 years. My family think that I should do that for various reasons. They can see that I would make a god teacher. Teachers also seem to have good collegiality (I just learnt that word the other day) and holidays are good. For example 6 to 7 weeks over summer is quite nice.
3. Return to Japan and hopefully do what I did before. I was a financial adviser for expatriates in Japan. I was not successful in this job because my prospecting systems were not very good. For me to return to this I would have to look closely at these systems and do it better.
4. Become a financial adviser in Palmerston North. I have talked to a couple of people who do this job in Palmerston North and it wouldn't be too bad. I do have a good network here in my hometown and I'm sure that I will be able to tap into that and get some kind of viable business going.
5. A third option of the financial adviser stream is to go to London. I have contacts in that industry and it is another viable option. I do know people socially as well in that city so it wouldn't be a lonely existence.
6. Return to Japan and go back to being an English teacher. As I said before I spent nearly 10 years doing that job. I did enjoy it and you meet some interesting people especially when you teach in companies. I have had the honour of working in some pretty high profile companies and that is a real experience.
7. Look for a job in the tourism industry in New Zealand. This industry has always interested me and it is something that I would probably enjoy. Also you get to live in some pretty cool spots. I suppose with my ability to speak Japanese, I may be of use in places like Rotorua and Queenstown.
8. Return to university. I said before if I want to become a teacher than I would have to go to teachers college but I don't necessarily have to go there, I could look to study something else and start a new career that way. (I could be one of those mature students who sits up the front and always gets 95% on his exams.)
9. Start my own business. I don't have any ideas at the moment but there must be something out there that I can fill the gap in the market. (I sense another blog post coming along.)
10. Marry a rich woman. (No comment necessary.)
These are just ideas that I have and they are not my first choices by any means but it is good to get them down on paper so to speak. I think a big thing for me is not the job per se but where I do it. For example being a financial adviser in Napier doesn't appeal.
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
I believe I can fly.
Yesterday, one of the main news stories around the world was the jump made by Felix Baumgartner. I was fascinated by the whole thing and watched quite a few news stories on the Internet last night. I still don't understand what the scientific benefits of the jump are but I'm sure there are some.
Apparently Felix Baumgartner said that his daredevil jumps are now behind him and he wants to become a helicopter pilot. That sounds good and I'm sure that he will make a great pilot. What else can he do? What will you like to see him do? I have a few ideas and here they go:
1. Hanglide off the top of Mount Everest.
2. Jump off the top of Roppongi Hills in Tokyo,Japan. (This is more for the reaction of the Japanese authorities who traditionally are not happy to support anything like that.)
3. I know that he has flown across the English Channel so I would quite like to see him fly across the Cook Strait. That would be cool. He could start in the South Island and land in Lambton Quay across the road from the Beehive.
4. Do something off the top of the Eiffel Tower. Some kind of real James Bond stunt. That would be awesome.
5. It would be cool for him to fly off the Ayers Rock in his Red Bull get up. Although in writing that it may be that there are cultural restrictions on that.
6. The next one is similar to the Cook Strait stunt but something like flying between the pillars of Hercules would be quite interesting. Flying from the Rock of Gibraltar to some peak in North Africa would be quite historical.
7. Yesterday's jump was amazing but I would like to know how far away from the original take off point did he land. My point is if he took off from a Pacific Ocean island or atoll, would he be able to land there too?
8. No jump resume would be complete without jumping off a building in Dubai. Isn't there a building 800 meters high in Dubai?
9. Flying from the high rises on Hong Kong Island to Kowloon would be a real eye opener and you can bet your house that there would be thousands watching it from the water and it would be very spectacular.
10. This is not really a sky dive but a bungy jump would be cool for him to do. Imagine if yesterday was a bungy jump. It would have had huge bungy cord.
I would just like to say that I would never do any of these. The daredevils can do it all themselves.
Finally if anyone can tell me what happened to the ballon with the capsule carrying Felix Baumgartner I would love to know.
Apparently Felix Baumgartner said that his daredevil jumps are now behind him and he wants to become a helicopter pilot. That sounds good and I'm sure that he will make a great pilot. What else can he do? What will you like to see him do? I have a few ideas and here they go:
1. Hanglide off the top of Mount Everest.
2. Jump off the top of Roppongi Hills in Tokyo,Japan. (This is more for the reaction of the Japanese authorities who traditionally are not happy to support anything like that.)
3. I know that he has flown across the English Channel so I would quite like to see him fly across the Cook Strait. That would be cool. He could start in the South Island and land in Lambton Quay across the road from the Beehive.
4. Do something off the top of the Eiffel Tower. Some kind of real James Bond stunt. That would be awesome.
5. It would be cool for him to fly off the Ayers Rock in his Red Bull get up. Although in writing that it may be that there are cultural restrictions on that.
6. The next one is similar to the Cook Strait stunt but something like flying between the pillars of Hercules would be quite interesting. Flying from the Rock of Gibraltar to some peak in North Africa would be quite historical.
7. Yesterday's jump was amazing but I would like to know how far away from the original take off point did he land. My point is if he took off from a Pacific Ocean island or atoll, would he be able to land there too?
8. No jump resume would be complete without jumping off a building in Dubai. Isn't there a building 800 meters high in Dubai?
9. Flying from the high rises on Hong Kong Island to Kowloon would be a real eye opener and you can bet your house that there would be thousands watching it from the water and it would be very spectacular.
10. This is not really a sky dive but a bungy jump would be cool for him to do. Imagine if yesterday was a bungy jump. It would have had huge bungy cord.
I would just like to say that I would never do any of these. The daredevils can do it all themselves.
Finally if anyone can tell me what happened to the ballon with the capsule carrying Felix Baumgartner I would love to know.
Monday, 15 October 2012
Whose speech is it anyway?
In a previous post I talked about Toastmasters. Toastmasters is an organisation that helps you with your public speaking and leadership. Every meeting runs to a strict schedule and one of the activities is called Table Topics. Table Topics is basically a chance at improvised speech making. The Table Topics Master has to give the participants a chance to give an improvised speech which he or she gives them.
Coming up with topics for this part of the meeting can be challenging and guess who has to be Table Topics Master next week. Yes, you guessed it, me. What should I ask my fellow club members to talk about? Do you have any ideas? Lets see if I can think of ten ideas.
1. I think the simpler the better. The first time I ever participated in Table Topics I had to talk about the crocodile not being able to poke it's tongue out of it's mouth. So, I ask you, how would you answer that? It had me stumped. My point is, there is nothing wrong with asking about their favourite movie or their favourite food. For people who may not be so confident talking in front of people these kinds of topics can be easy for them to get in the groove. When you start asking about Einstein's Theory of Relativity it isn't helping anyone.
2. Have a collection of current events and ask the speaker to give their point of view on it. Opinions are always a good one. For example, today we saw the Austrian guy jump out of a capsule at 128000 feet and free fall and parachute to the ground. So, you could ask about that and ask the question, an inspiration for mankind or a waste of money?
3. Take a collection of words that are real but no one has probably ever heard of and ask the speakers to give a definition of them. I remember playing a board game like that a few years ago but I don't know what the name of the game was called. I think it might be Balderdash but I'm not 100% sure on that.
4. Use public holidays as a theme for Table Topics. A simple question could be how is the perfect way you would celebrate Christmas? Another idea could be to talk about a memorable New Years' Eve that you have had.
5. Ask the speakers to tell something about themselves that everyone may not know and may find very surprising. This isn't a real example but in my club we have a great deal of farmers in it. A farmer is traditionally thought of as been male and quite conservative. So wouldn't it be funny if one of them said that they like musicals or something similar.
6. The other day I wrote a post about if I won the lottery. This is a perfect example for a Table Topic. I'm sure that you would get a various range of answers from someone saying that they would blow it on material things to someone who would probably invest it in low risk low yield bonds. I can imagine that you would get answers that were enthusiastic and creative while you would also get answers that were for won't of a better word almost boring.
7. I talked about your favourite food before, you could elaborate on it by asking about the strangest food you have ever eaten or the different ethnic foods that you have had. This sounds easy but trying to think of something straight away is, I reckon, quite challenging.
8. I am Table Topics Master on October 23rd. Using the internet (Wikipedia is usually good for this) get the speakers to talk in more detail about what happened today in history. For example, on the 23rd of October 1915 about 30,000 women marched in New York City demanding suffrage. Imagine you are a gentleman of the time and talk about your opinion of this event.
9. If you had someone come to visit you in your hometown for one week where would you take them? What would you do? Where and what would you eat? This maybe easy if you live in New York but if you are doing this for Palmerston North then that could be a challenge.
10. For the more romantic people, ask them what they would do on their perfect date. This can be a fantasy one or a date that they have had in the past.
I'm sure that there are thousands of other ideas for table Topics. Here are just ten. Hmmm, I wonder which ones I can use next week.
Coming up with topics for this part of the meeting can be challenging and guess who has to be Table Topics Master next week. Yes, you guessed it, me. What should I ask my fellow club members to talk about? Do you have any ideas? Lets see if I can think of ten ideas.
1. I think the simpler the better. The first time I ever participated in Table Topics I had to talk about the crocodile not being able to poke it's tongue out of it's mouth. So, I ask you, how would you answer that? It had me stumped. My point is, there is nothing wrong with asking about their favourite movie or their favourite food. For people who may not be so confident talking in front of people these kinds of topics can be easy for them to get in the groove. When you start asking about Einstein's Theory of Relativity it isn't helping anyone.
2. Have a collection of current events and ask the speaker to give their point of view on it. Opinions are always a good one. For example, today we saw the Austrian guy jump out of a capsule at 128000 feet and free fall and parachute to the ground. So, you could ask about that and ask the question, an inspiration for mankind or a waste of money?
3. Take a collection of words that are real but no one has probably ever heard of and ask the speakers to give a definition of them. I remember playing a board game like that a few years ago but I don't know what the name of the game was called. I think it might be Balderdash but I'm not 100% sure on that.
4. Use public holidays as a theme for Table Topics. A simple question could be how is the perfect way you would celebrate Christmas? Another idea could be to talk about a memorable New Years' Eve that you have had.
5. Ask the speakers to tell something about themselves that everyone may not know and may find very surprising. This isn't a real example but in my club we have a great deal of farmers in it. A farmer is traditionally thought of as been male and quite conservative. So wouldn't it be funny if one of them said that they like musicals or something similar.
6. The other day I wrote a post about if I won the lottery. This is a perfect example for a Table Topic. I'm sure that you would get a various range of answers from someone saying that they would blow it on material things to someone who would probably invest it in low risk low yield bonds. I can imagine that you would get answers that were enthusiastic and creative while you would also get answers that were for won't of a better word almost boring.
7. I talked about your favourite food before, you could elaborate on it by asking about the strangest food you have ever eaten or the different ethnic foods that you have had. This sounds easy but trying to think of something straight away is, I reckon, quite challenging.
8. I am Table Topics Master on October 23rd. Using the internet (Wikipedia is usually good for this) get the speakers to talk in more detail about what happened today in history. For example, on the 23rd of October 1915 about 30,000 women marched in New York City demanding suffrage. Imagine you are a gentleman of the time and talk about your opinion of this event.
9. If you had someone come to visit you in your hometown for one week where would you take them? What would you do? Where and what would you eat? This maybe easy if you live in New York but if you are doing this for Palmerston North then that could be a challenge.
10. For the more romantic people, ask them what they would do on their perfect date. This can be a fantasy one or a date that they have had in the past.
I'm sure that there are thousands of other ideas for table Topics. Here are just ten. Hmmm, I wonder which ones I can use next week.
Sunday, 14 October 2012
That's a novel idea!
I would like to introduce you to National Novel
Writing Month or Nanowrimo for short.
This is a, I'm struggling to find the correct word. It isn't a competition, it
is a challenge to write a novel in November. 30 days to write a novel. They say
that a novel is over 50000 words so they challenge you to write 50000 words in
30 days. For the more mathematically gifted people out there, they will realise
that 50000 words in 30 days is approximately 1666 words a day. That sounds a
lot but I assure you even the most typing-challenged people around and that
includes me, 1500 words does not take that long and remember that you don't have
to write a perfect novel you just have to get things on paper.
Today
I would like to talk about 10 ideas that you could turn into novels. Some of
ideas could be generic or I could come up with some specific ideas. I'm not
sure. I haven't thought of anything yet. So this post could take me 15 minutes
to write or it could take three hours if I get writers block. Something that I
hope doesn't happen in November.
Anyway,
the following are ten ideas that you can turn into novels:
1. Write
an autobiography. You don't have to use your name and you can use names and
places that don’t have anything to do with you but in fact you are writing
about yourself. The beauty of this is that you can write it about the past or
even better about your future. For example you could write about yourself
flying on your private jet or something similar.
2. How
about writing a novel about a trip that you took or a trip that you want to go?
You could write about the things that you see or even better the characters
that you would meet or even better did meet. Be creative with this. I bet a
whole bunch of you are thinking that you go backpacking or whatever. But, what
about going for a trip to Mars or something like that?
3. Do
you watch the news or read the newspaper? Why not pick a current events story
or even a story from a long time ago and write a story about it? Make some
fictional characters and write a side story to something that we know well. For
example you could make a side story about someone who almost stopped Apollo 11
from launching.
4. You
could write a story about your friend, about his or her life. I’m sure you have
talked to your friend over the years, even met some of is or her friends, so
who better to write a fictional biography about that person. You!
5. What
are your hobbies? Think about what you enjoy and what you do in your free time
and incorporate that into your writing. Their could be a murder at your local football club, that is if you like mystery writing. If you are into flying you could do something that is set around your local aerodrome. The sky is the limit so to speak.
6. How about creating a novel centered around your work. For me I could have it set in a function centre at a racecourse and during a function something happens that changes the whole night and scars the lives of the people involved. This one is a bit cliche but if you are a lawyer you could talk about your job and a trial. Sounds a little bit like a John Grisham novel but it is your job and you should be able to write about it confidently.
7. What are you dreams, goals ambitions? You can write about those either in the first or third person. Who knows, writing these things own on paper may give you the kick up the backside to get you doing it or even you may come up with ideas that you haven't even thought of that you can get those and dreams achieved.
8. If you want to write a romance novel you could write a novel about your current relationship or your ideal relationship or that dream relationship with the god. They tell me that those romance books are some of the best sellers on Amazon so if you do a half decent job then you could be on the ay up that list.
9. Think about some kind of person that has been a big influence in your life. It could be a teacher from high school or a sports coach or some one you have had a great deal to do with in the community. Write about that particular person having a second life that very few people know about if any.
10. Do you have a favourite sport? Why don't you write a novel about a season in your sport. Imagine you are an English Premier League footballer and you write something about your season and the players in your team and the fans that you meet.
Whatever novel you write make sure you have fun doing it and if you attempt he Nanowrimo project remember that perfection is not required and that it is your chance to get something on paper and who knows what diamond in the rough you may find.
Good luck.
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