A World of Reeholio

Huey Art

2007-08-26T13:59:00.000+12:00

I know it has been a long time since the last post, and many have no doubt thought that I have fallen off the side of the earth. Alas, fortunately not!

Having started a new job this year, moved house, and a few trips away, have all somewhat modified my lifestyle significantly. This of course has affected my blogging. Each time I look at my blog(s), a desire to post something sweeps over me. Unfortunately, this is followed soon after by a mental block, and motivation fades. At last here I am again...

I thought I might share a recent art project. I have never really considered myself as anything of an artist, until in March on trip to Dubai, I was inspired while having lunch at a Chinese Restaurant.

On the wall was some art work of chinese lettering or characters, and I thought I could do something similar but different of course. This was the result.

It is made with two sheets of 12mm MDF (medium density fibreboard) of approximately 1000mm x 600mm (3.3' x 2'). The rear sheet is painted matt black, and the front spaced out from the rear sheet by 12mm using dowels and painted in sunset colours. The back sheet is also slightly larger to give it the appearance of a black 3-D frame around it. The idea is of a Bell UH-1H 'Huey' Iroquois helicopter coming out of the sun, but sort of back-to-front.

I am very proud of the result, and it now hangs as the feature picture on my lounge room wall. Some friends who have seen it, initially thought it was just a painting until I told them to look a bit more closely at it. The look of realisation and surprise is magic.

I have been thinking about the idea of creating a second one and seeing what I could sell it for, but am not sure if I could sell it for enough to cover my time and effort. Other emotions such as modesty and fear of rejection have also stood as a barrier so far. It is one thing to create something for ones own benefit and joy. It is another to create something to sell for profit.

I welcome your comments and feedback.

Summer Holiday

2007-01-14T17:12:00.000+13:00

This year for my summer holiday, my wife, son and I drove up to the top of the Coromandel Peninsula where my wife's uncle owns a farm. From there, we spent the week scuba diving off Little Bay, walking around the farm, and relaxing in the sun.

When we went away I chose not to take my laptop, so I could not spent anytime in front of the computer (I often do spent too much time!). We also never turned the television on, so we instead spent the evenings sitting around having a few drinks, talking and telling tall stories.

Although in my last post I talked about the top five party spots to spend New Years eve at, I'm afraid I wasn't near any of them. Instead New Years eve was a barbecue and a few quiet drinks with family and friends. A peaceful but enjoyable way to start 2007 in New Zealand.

Giving at Christmas Time

2006-12-21T14:45:00.000+13:00

The news is always flooded with the bad things people do. It is nice that once in a while you read about a good thing. An act of kindness, selflessness, and giving. Unfortunately, it does not happen often enough.

My father has just sent me an email about the wreaths that are laid at Arlington Cemetery each year by Merrill Worcester, owner of the Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine. For the last fifteen years Worcester has laid over five thousand wreaths at the cemetery for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Not only has donated the wreaths, he also pays for the trucking expense too. A selfless act for those who can never repay him, What a wonderful man!

Rest easy, sleep well my brothers.

Know the line has held, your job is done.

Rest easy, sleep well.

Others have taken up where you fell, the line has held.

Peace, peace, and farewell...

Christmas in New Zealand

2006-12-19T12:20:00.000+13:00

I know it has been a while since I have last posted, but I have just finished a very intensive six month course for work. It has been extremely busy and stressful over the last few weeks of it. Unfortunately, my blogging was the first to suffer.

However, I am now finished that, and hope to be back blogging full swing. To get the ball rolling I thought I would re-post an article that I have just written for Topics From 192 Countries. It is called Christmas in New Zealand.

With only 6 days until Christmas, I thought I might write about how Christmas is celebrated in New Zealand, as I'm sure it may vary between the 192 countries.

Christmas is widely celebrated in New Zealand, unfortunately more commercially than religiously. Three months before Christmas, some of the big department stores were selling Christmas paraphernalia already. To them it's all about the money! I am not very religious myself, but I think it is still important to remember why we celebrate Christmas: The birth of Christ, and how he impacted on the world. We can't all make such a big impact, but we can all make an effort to make peace with one-another. Whether that is striving for peace in the bloggersphere like Mimi Lenox does, or just ringing a friend you haven't spoken to in a long time, just to say "hi!". That is why we give presents - as peace offerings.

Anyway, because New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere, it is summer down here at Christmas time. Our school year is aligned with Christmas, in that each year finishes before Christmas and starts in the new calendar year. Most working people also take summer holidays over the Christmas period and travel to see family for Christmas day and then on to either a beach or lake somewhere to celebrate the coming of the new year.

A BIG roast lunch with turkey, vegetables and all the trimmings on Christmas day is traditional here, but is losing popularity by the year. It is traditional because a great majority of New Zealanders are descended from British origin where it is winter, cold and miserable over there at this time of year. In cold weather, a nice big roast meal is great, but not in the heat of summer as we have here.

I am slowly convincing my family to drop the big roast meal and instead have the new kiwi traditional meal of a barbecue lunch and salads. Eaten outside on the outdoor furniture in the backyard, in the sun, rather than crammed around the dining room table locked inside, while it is a beautiful sun-shining day outside.

No matter how you choose to celebrate Christmas this year (if you do!), I wish you all peace and prosperity. Merry Christmas!

Cultural Trends

2006-11-20T20:57:00.000+13:00

A New Zealander's view of the recent US Elections...

Dona Nobis Pacem

2006-11-07T12:30:00.000+13:00

...which loosely translates to 'Grant us Peace'.

Today is Mimi Lenox's Blogblast for Peace day. Today is the day we forget our troubles, put down our guns, open our doors and make peace.

Today, I challenge you to smile at someone you don't know and just 'Hi'. It is not a big thing to ask, and won't cost you a cent. If you are really brave you could make up a sign like the guy in the video in my previous post below and walk around offering people 'free hugs'.

I once read a very inspiring book called Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. It is a true story about two men, one called Morrie who is dying of a degenerative muscle disease, and the other called Mitch. Mitch realizes that he does not have much time to spend with his good friend Morrie, and makes the effort to make this little time as precious as possible. Anyway, in the book Morrie tells about rather than waiting until after he dies, he decides to hold his funeral beforehand, so he is here to listen to all those things people come along to funerals to say when it is too late.

I'm not suggesting you hold an early funeral, but why not telling someone how they really mean to you, before it is too late! After they are dead, you will never have a chance again, and you will regret it for the rest of your life.

So go on, make that peace!

Dona Nobis Pacem

Free Hugs

2006-11-06T20:27:00.000+13:00

I've just been watching a documentary on TV about YouTube, and it featured the new music video phenomena called Free Hugs, that was put together by an Australian band called Sick Puppies. Funny video, and a great song. Check it out - and have a free (blog) hug from me...

Happy Cyanide and Happiness Halloween

2006-10-31T12:02:00.000+13:00

New Zealand’s National Flower

2006-10-29T23:34:00.000+13:00

Over at Topics from 192 Countries, the latest topic is national flowers. I have just finished writing this post for it, and decided to reproduce it here:

After reading Elspeth’s post the other day about national flowers, I was intrigued to find out what New Zealand’s national flower was, as I must admit I did not know. I went off and researched it and was surprised to find that New Zealand doesn’t have an official national flower, but it does recognise three unofficial national flowers as the Silver Fern, the red Pohutukawa flower, and the yellow Kowhai. As the Silver Fern does not produce a flower as such, the red Pohutukawa flower from our native Pohutukawa tree is probably the closest to a national flower. These trees are protected by law, and there are rules about only moving them until they are a certain age, and then after which you are not allowed to ‘kill’ them. These trees are evergreen, and the beautiful red flowers appear from late December (the southern-hemisphere summer).

The Silver Fern is better known as a national symbol for New Zealand. The Silver Fern is also native to New Zealand, and is characterised by its fern leaves being green on the upper surface and silver on its lower surface. The Silver Fern is often seen on New Zealand military uniforms and gravestones, but more commonly on the uniforms of New Zealand’s national sports teams (which are predominately black with white trim). New Zealand’s national netball team is known as The Silver Ferns. A lot of patriotic New Zealanders often get themselves tattooed with a silver fern to mark them as a Kiwi.

New Zealanders are colloquially known as Kiwis, after our national bird. The Kiwi is native to New Zealand and is a short and fat little bird, brown in colour, with stubby wings and a long beak (although probably not politically correct to call it short and fat anymore). Its stubby wings mean it is a flightless bird, an lives by hunting bugs and worms in the soil using its long beak. I’m not sure if Kiwis are able to climb Pohutukawa trees, but theoretically I guess they could achieve flight for small periods of time from these trees – Flight time being calculated as ‘height of the tree’ x ‘gravity’.

Topics from 192 Countries

2006-10-26T19:14:00.000+13:00

Every once in a while someone comes up with an extraordinarily unique idea for a blog. Another one of these has just come to me, via email.

I received an email from Shinji in Japan on Wednesday, who asked if I would like to contribute to his project called Topics from 192 Countries. This blog is similar to A World of Bloggers in that Shinji is trying to get one blogger from each of 192 countries. The difference is that instead of a being a directory like mine, Shinji's idea is for each blogger to contribute and blog about their countries on the blog.

One concept that I like about Topics from 192 Countries, is that you can read the posts by countries. For example, if you click on the New Zealand link in the sidebar, a new page will open with all the posts about New Zealand. Fantastic!

I have accepted Shinji's offer and I now hold the honour of being the New Zealand contributor at Topics from 192 Countries. I have just posted an introductory post there, and hope to write plenty more about people, places, culture, facts and trivia there about life in New Zealand.

Ka pai Shinji!

('Ka pai' is Maori for 'well done')

Cyanide and Happiness

2006-10-23T12:22:00.000+13:00

A friend sent me some of these cartoons from Explosm.net. I thought I'd share this one with you as it appeals to my dry sense of humour...

Peace on Earth

2006-10-19T20:43:00.000+13:00

Mimi emailed me the other day with a fabulous idea she come up with called Dona nobis pacem in the Blogosphere. After recent nuclear tests in North Korea, Another plane hitting a building in NYC, mayhem in Iraq and all the other problems around the world, Mimi's idea is to have a "World Peace" day on Nov 7 2006. She may not be able to achieve complete world peace (I wish she could), but she is making a start by trying to have a day of peace in the Bloggersphere.

Always wanting to be part of a great idea, I am jumping on board and am going to post "Dona Nobis Pacem" on Nov 7. If you would like to be part of Mimi's movement, please click the link above or go to Mimi's blog for more info.

The Blogging Blues

2006-10-15T20:07:00.000+13:00

I've got the blogging blues!

It has been an interesting last couple of weeks for me. I've been off work sick with 'the flu' for the last ten days. I was planning to get a medical clearance to fly agan today, but now I've gone and broken my little toe, which means I'm hobbling around and still can't fly for another few days yet. To top it off, all the drugs I have been taking for being sick and now the anti-biotics and anti-inflammatories for upset my stomach and I've been spending a lot of time hobbling down to the toilet (Sorry, you probably didn't care to know that:-()

I hate being sick (or injured). I just don't feel like doing anything, except lying on the couch, reading a book, or watching DVDs and TV. Hence, I haven't posted anything for almost two weeks. I haven't picked up my camera. I haven't been visiting all my blog friends to read what they have been up to. I've just been feeling sorry for myself.

I hate being grounded and not being able to fly. Flying is like an addiction. When ever I'm not up there, I want to be up there. Like Michael Angelo said:

"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For there you have been, and there you long to return"

So, I'm sorry I haven't been as active as I'd like to be. Hopefully soon I'll be back to blogging full swing.

Mimi, I still love your idea about Dona nobis pacem, and I have been planning to write a full post about it since your email to me. Hopefully I'll get over my blues shortly and get onto it...

Stress Test

2006-10-05T17:49:00.000+13:00

How stressed are you?

The following three images are all completely static. There is no trick involved. If you stare directly at any part of each of them, you will see they are not moving.

I can't explain exactly how, but if the image is moving it is because of how your eye is seeing it, and your brain is interpreting it.

Ideally, the pictures should not appear to be moving at all. If they are moving slowly you would be experiencing normal levels of stress. Young children and senior citizens should see them standing still. If you see them moving rapidly you may well be under considerable stress and I think it's time for you to take a holiday...

Critique My Blog - Mahnahmuhnah!

2006-10-03T19:33:00.000+13:00

On Sunday I visited Critique My Blog and asked Billy Mac to critique this blog. This was what he had to say:

It seems like a lot of people these days are tapping into the Your Tube phenomenon. This blog...aside from flowing with interesting pieces of writing and topics...has one of my favorite clips...the muppets that sing Mahnahmuhnah. It's awesome. The blogs OK too :) All kidding aside...the blog has a blog meter, has a means to monetize the blog and the content is easy on the eyes. Nice job and Well done!

Thanks for the critique / review Billy! Be sure to check out Critique My Blog and if you're brave, ask him to critique your blog too. Don't forget to mention I sent you ;-)

The Smoking Fry - McGoodness???

2006-10-01T10:16:00.000+13:00

I have just watched the movie Super Size Me again. If you have ever wanted a reason to stop or cut back on eating fast food such as McDonalds, then watch this movie.

Super Size Me is a documentary directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, who goes on a quest to eat nothing but McDonalds for 30 days to see if eating fast food is in fact good for you. During this time he has to eat three square meals of McDonalds per day, have every item on the menu at least once, and if McDonalds doesn't sell it, he can't eat it. Also, if he is asked if he wants to 'super size', he has to say yes. He is also only allowed to exercise the same amount as the 'average American' does. At the beginning of the 30 day period he undergoes several health checks and then compares them regularly during the 30 days. The results? Let's just say it is enough to put you off eating McDonalds for a while.

If you went to see this movie at the theatre, you may have missed 'The Smoking Fry'. This is an extra scene available on the DVD edition. I found a copy of it on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. My question is 'How much preservative do these fries contain?'

This movie is enough to inspire me to eat healthily and exercise regularly. If I was a movie critic I would rate Super Size Me a 9/10.

The Viet Nam Collection

2006-09-27T20:58:00.000+12:00

If you haven't checked out my photography blog portfolio Reeholio recently, I have just finished posting a series of 'selective colour' photos from my trip to Viet Nam earlier this year.

Selective colourings are where you turn a colour photograph into a black and white photo but leave a small part with its colour still, to accentuate it in the photo.

Please check them out and let me know what you think. I appreciate your feedback.

Low Flight

2006-09-24T20:17:00.000+12:00

I've just been visiting Bazza's blog, where he has posted the immortal High Flight poem, by Flying Officer John Magee.

Having flown many hours in helicopters, I would like to share a less known derivative of this famous poem. I am not able to say where I sourced it from, but I believe it originates from a US Army helicopter pilot.

I dedicate this to all those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice flying helicopters in peacetime and war.

Low Flight

Oh, I have lifted vertically from the ground
And humbly joined the sky with wings swept round
Forward I've flown, while closely hugging earth
Beneath the clouds, and done a hundred things you would not dare to:
Autoed, hoisted and beeped while challenging death.
Hov'ring there I've fought the shifting winds around
And forced my balking craft through fearful turbulent air
Down amongst the low awaiting fog -
I've stayed above the sea
Through skill - where never goat nor C-130 flew
And while with silent humble stance,
I've listened to the men who flew on high
I've lowered my head and taken their abuse
And somewhere God looked at me and smiled

The Silver Eagle

Photo of an RNZAF Bell Uh-1H Iroquois helicopter on operations in East Timor. Photo courtesy of my friend Chip Lundgren

Tag You're It! - Books

2006-09-21T19:24:00.000+12:00

While procrastinating about what to blog about next, I went to check out what Yaxlich had been up to. There I discovered Yaxlich had tagged me in his post about books. So here I go...

1. One book that changed your life

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. I mentioned this book here already. I can not recommend this book enough.

2. One book that you've read more than once.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. This book only takes a couple of hours to read. When I finished it I just sat there and thought 'Wow!". Then I read it again the same day.

This book is all about the magic of flying. Not just flying for a seagull to get from one feed to another but flying for flying's sake. There are many hidden meanings and innuendos through out the book that make you stop and think about a lot of things...

3. One book that you'd want on a desert island.

McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology (20 Volume Set). If I ever got rescued I would know a lot about science and technology. If not, I would have something to stimulate my mind while I'm there.

4. One book that made you laugh.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I have read the whole series of these books, and each one was a laugh a page.

5. One book that made you cry.

This would have to be Tuesday's With Morrie by Mitch Albom. This is a true story about Mitch, who finds out that his close friend, teacher and mentor, Morrie, from College is dying. Mitch decides to go and visit Morrie. He then spends every Tuesday with Morrie recording their interviews and memories until eventually Morrie passes away.

Often, it is only when it is too late, that we really tell a person what they mean to us. This 'too late' is normally at their funeral. At the time I read this book, a great friend of mine Chris, was dying of cancer. I kept avoiding going to see him, because I hadn't seen him for a long time and I felt uneasy about it. After reading this book, I sat down and wrote a letter to Chris thanking him for his friendship, his guidance, his mentorship, and telling him that he had a major influence on my life. I never did go to see Chris, but at his funeral a friend of mine told me that Chris had shed a tear or two when he read this letter. I don't know if I would have ever been able to tell him the things I wrote in person, but at least I told him - in a way. I still regret never going to see Chris, as Mitch did with Morrie.

6. One book that you wish you had written.

On my life list of things to do is 'Write a book'. One day...maybe.

7. One book you wish had never been written.

Mein Kamph by Adolf Hitler. maybe if he had never written this book, the atrocities that were commited under his leadership may never have happened.

8. One book that you are reading at the moment.

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. I have also read and enjoyed The Davinci Code, Angels and Demons and Deception Point.

9. One book that you've been meaning to read.

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I have heard a lot of good things about this book, and keep meaning to get hold of a copy of it to read.

10. Five others that you’d like to do this.

Frank, Debs, Richard, Penny, and Julie

The Evolution of Dance

2006-09-20T22:16:00.000+12:00

While procrastinating about another post I am mid-way writing (about books), I was also bl-urfing at Blog Explosion and came across the following hilarious video at Mando's World. I wish I could dance like this guy. I will have to practise some of these moves to pull out next time I've had a few drinks...

Foxxfyrre's Graffiti My Blog

2006-09-16T11:34:00.000+12:00

Frank Sirianni from Canada is inviting people to use their creative talent and 'Graffiti My Blog' at Foxxfyrre's Black And White Art Blog . He offers a couple of brick wall designs that you can download, then draw, write, doodle and graffiti using paintshop, photoshop or the like, then send it back to him to post there. You can write or draw anything you like as long as it is not objectionable.

To help get Frank's project off the ground, I have used my (very limited) right-brained creative talent, and come up with the below design. Hopefully it is up to Frank's standard, and be posted there ;)

So check out Frank's Foxxfyrre's Black And White Art Blog, and if you are feeling 'creative', give it a go and 'Graffiti My Blog'. A bit of fun and the least it will do for you is to promote your blog there, as Frank will link to your blog with your posted design. Otherwise, if you are not very creative (like myself) you can at least admire the designs soon to be posted there.

Good luck with this project Frank...

If your blog isn't linked to A World of Bloggers already, be sure to do so here.

Heroism

2006-09-14T21:01:00.000+12:00

The fifth anniversary of the tragic events of September 11 2001 passed the other day while I was away. To paraphrase Theodore Roosevelt: ‘A day that will live forever in infamy’.

The events affected so many billions of people from not only the USA, but from all around the world. It changed the way we live our lives forever, knowing that no one is safe, anywhere, from terrorism.

I would like to pay special tribute to the firefighters from the FDNY (Fire Department New York), who gave their lives that day, while attempting to save the lives of the innocent people who were trapped in the World Trade Centre.

It is a natural basic human instinct to run away from fire, and it takes enormous courage to do the opposite and enter a burning building to save the lives of others. These brave firefighters will tell you it is ‘just their job’ and will talk it down, but in reality their actions are no less than heroic.

343 firefighters made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11 2001, as well as many police officers from the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD). May they all rest in peace, and God bless their families that live on without them.

The official FDNY tribute can be viewed by clicking on either of the photos above.

Mahnahmuhnah!

2006-09-04T20:25:00.000+12:00

I'm going to be away for the next ten days and probably won't have internet access. Sorry that means no posts, comments or visits from me until after I get back next Thursday.

Meanwhile, enjoy an old classic that I found at Solace's blog:

Take care and I'll be back in the bloggersphere on Thursday September 14th.

iSmile Update

2006-09-03T20:54:00.000+12:00

Regular visitors to A World of Reeholio will remember my post a few weeks back titled Apple, that mentioned a blog called iSmile by Alessia from France (pictured left).

Alessia is encouraging people to submit photos to her blog, of themselves with their apple products. Her inspiration for iSmile came from the similar blog Spread Your Smile (where I also have a photo published :0)

Alessia has finally got the project up and running and has posted the first few photos. It was good to see that Alessia accepted my liberal interpretation of her 'apple' rules and posted my photo there as the first submission.

Be sure to check out iSmile and if you're brave enough; submit your apple photo too...

The Treadmill Dance

2006-08-31T21:14:00.000+12:00

I saw this recently on another blog. Apologies to whose it was but I can't find you at the moment. Instead I looked up YouTube to find it because I just had to post it. These guys are very clever. Don't forget to crank up the speakers...

Meanwhile, my renter Katie has just announcied her love hate relationship with eggs.

Macro Floral Photography

2006-08-29T21:09:00.000+12:00

If you haven't visited my photography at Portfolio Reeholio lately, you will be missing out on the macro photography of flowers I have been taking recently:

Such vibrant colours and crisp detail. You can almost smell the fragrances. I am open to constructive criticism, so leave a comment there and let me know what you think. Just click on any of the flowers above.

Diamond in the Sky

2006-08-27T21:50:00.000+12:00

When I was young and silly I used to do a lot of skydiving, so this video is quite nostalgic for me. Not that I was ever good enough to do this. Cool song too...

Now go check out what my renter Katie is up to at Kat Scratch Fever

Compliments – The Art of Making Someone Feel Good

2006-08-26T01:42:00.000+12:00

When I was sixteen a friend and mentor of mine, Wayne Buckingham, gave me a very famous book to read, called How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. When he gave this book to me, I took it the wrong way, thinking that he thought I needed to “grow up”. I tossed the book in my closet and forgot about it.

Four years later I found the book again and flicked through it. This time I liked what I saw and decided to read it. Once I started reading it, I could not put it down. It also changed my life. I attribute a lot of my successes in life to this book.

Years later I caught up with Wayne Buckingham and thanked him for giving me this book to read (and apologising that I had never returned it to him). It was then he told me he had given me this book because he believed in me and he thought I would benefit from reading it. Thanks Buck, I did.

One of Carnegie’s principles is the art of complimenting. Not just shallow compliments you don’t really mean, but compliments from the heart. People can tell if you mean it or not. Coinciding with this principle is the rule where if you don’t have anything nice to say, then do not say anything at all.

When I visit other blogs from around the world, if I like what I see, I will leave a complimenting Comment on the blog. As a result I get a high return rate of bloggers coming to my blog to check out who was behind the compliment.

I wanted to write this post on compliments because I have been complimented a few times recently on blogs around the world, or by bloggers leaving comments on my various blogs. I want to highlight some of these compliments as fine examples of giving sincere honest compliments. As a result, I respect these people enormously.

The first major blogging compliment I received was from Bobby Griffin at Bestest Blog of All Time. He gave A World of Bloggers the award for the Bestest Blog of the Day for July 26, 2006. You can read Bobby’s complimentary review here.

Regular readers of this blog may have already read the great review Mimi wrote about my photoblogs. Mimi’s wonderful review compliments the photos I have posted in Portfolio Reeholio and Wild New Zealand. What a nice way to compliment someone by writing a review of their work.

Gale “Gem” Martin stopped by my blog recently and left this nice comment:

Hi again, Rhys. I visited your blog after reading your profile. I was struck with how you seem to be two people--the detail oriented guy who enjoys sedentary intellectual stuff and extreme adventure guy whose next stop is the x-games. I also like the gentleness of your blogging persona, kind of like a warm bath with Epsom salts…And I'll take you at your word and start leaving more comments at the blogs I visit.

Not long after, Gale wrote a wonderful post called Happy Friend Day where she again complimented me by referring to me as “an uberblogger from far-flung New Zealand, a Renaissance man for our day…”

Thank you Gale, your star shines brightly in the sky down here in far-flung New Zealand.

Lizza. Lizza often stops by my blog and leaves me nice comments. I know she also visits many other blogs and does the same. Lizza has just today deservingly won Bobby Griffin’s Bestest Blog of the Day Award. I went to Lizza’s blog to congratulate her and was pleasantly surprised to see she had already written about me in her award post. Lizza expressed her gratitude to me as one of four “cyber-pimps” who has led her to discovering many new exciting weblogs to read. Thanks Lizza, I always value and appreciate your feedback.

Then there is Penny Ricketts from Massachusetts, USA. Penny is looking for love via the bloggersphere and thought I might be her man. My wife had other thoughts about that. Sorry penny, but it was a nice compliment anyway.

Many bloggers have also stopped by my blogs and left encouraging and complimentary comments. A few who stand out include Yaxlich, David Johns, Dave MacIntyre, and Blog Bloke.

There are many others I could mention but this post would become a book ;-) Instead I would like to finish with a quote from Gale that I picked up when I first discovered her blog recently:

Life--at least the big picture view--is much easier to see. Make every day count. Spend time with people you like. Speak your mind, say you're sorry, give a compliment, or do a random act of kindness--you might not get a second chance.

What a wonderful quote Gale! You are indeed a “Gem”

Rhys

New Renter - Kat Scratch Fever

2006-08-25T15:44:00.000+12:00

I would like to welcome Katie Wagner to my blog for the week. Katie enjoys photography, web design, going to concerts and random acts of stupidity?! Her first car was a 1987 Oldsmobile Delta. Katie's blog Kat Scatch Fever is light hearted and good fun. Please check her blog out by clicking the image on the top right. Go on, you know you want to...

Brace Yourself - This is Funny!

2006-08-24T20:36:00.000+12:00

I've just worked out how to make this video-post work and wanted my first to be one of the funniest videos I have seen in a long time. Enjoy...

Guest Post - Scooter McGavin

2006-08-23T20:21:00.000+12:00

Hello ladies and gentlemen, Rhys has been kind enough to take up a post over here to let you know about a little more about my blog, Scooter McGavin’s 9th Green. The name stems from an old college nickname from a guy who, much like me, saw Happy Gilmore one too many times. My longtime dream was to open up a sports bar and name it Scooter McGavin’s, but it taking the name of my blog will have to do for now. The 9th Green part of the name just came from not wanting to name it “Scooter McGavin’s Blog.” That seemed too bland so I took a somewhat obscure reference from the movie, it the place where Shooter sent Happy for a little hazing ritual, to jazz thing up. Unfortunately with the name Scooter McGavin’s 9th Green, there has been more than a few that have mistaken it for a golf blog.

The blog instead is an entertainment blog, but not of the salacious kind. So if you are interested in finding out whom Lindsay Lohan is dating this week, this may not be the blog for you (although in a measure of full discloser, every time I go over to my sister’s house I check out her subscription to Us Weekly for that very purpose). Everyday I post about different genres of entertainment including music, television, movies, sports, and politic (which I occasionally find entertaining). For the most part, these are reviews and analysis of various events.

I do run two special posts every month. The first of every month I induct some form of entertainment, whether it be an album, movie, television show or video game into the Scooter Hall of Fame. It must have been a decade since it was released and something that has deep meaning to me. To check out all the inductees, scroll down to the Terror Alert Scale link on my sidebar and the SHoF is at the bottom. Also the link shows all the reviews I have ever done. The second monthly special event is my Lyrics Quiz that I run on the fifteenth of every month. The person who gets the most right every month is then added to the Winner’s List on my sidebar. Also for music fans, usually every Tuesday I have an album review of an album that was released that day but be warned this week I currently reviewed the new Paris Hilton album. But in the coming weeks you can look for album by more creditable artists such as Audioslave, John Mayer and possibly “Weird Al” Yankovic.

Another segment that I am most likely known for in the Blogosphere, but is currently on hiatus, is my weekly Toss Up between the televisions shows Lost and Veronica Mars. The genesis of this came last summer when I declared them the two best shows on television only for the networks put them on at the at the same timeslot. It’s possibly this very running segment that landed me a trip to San Diego this past February to the set of Veronica Mars (I’m still waiting for my invite to the set of Lost in Hawaii) to interview cast and crew. To add to the celebrity exposure, I also got to participate in a chat with a childhood idle Denis Leary.

Again I would like to thank Rhys for letting me patrol her sidebar for the week and hopefully if you haven’t already, you will check out the 9th Green. And maybe you stopped by once and didn’t care for what you saw, maybe you will give me a second change (and for those put off by the grass background, may I suggest subscribing to you favorite feed reader as I have numerous one you can subscribe straight from my blog).

Thanks again everyone,
Scooter McGavin

Thanks Scooter for spending the week on my blog and being my first Renter.

With his departure, the renter's space on the top right is now up for rent again. If you are a Blog Explosion member, just clcik on the link on the top right. If not - what are you waiting for? Sign up here!

Rhys

My Photoblogs Reviewed

2006-08-21T21:58:00.000+12:00

Before I discovered blogging, my photos were shut away on the hard drive of my computer and in boxes in my closet. Memories and views of the world through the lens of my camera, locked away for no one to see. Until now…

The greatest pleasure I get from publishing my photos via Blogspot, is the wonderful feedback that I have received from other bloggers far and wide around the world.

One such feedback is the review written by a Mimi who lives in the United States. Mimi is a freelance writer, internet guru and musician, who I recently met when she visited my blog and contacted me via email about exchanging links. Mimi has a similar passion to blogging that I have. Her blogs Mimi Writes..., Dating Profile of the Day and Mimi Matters are now linked in the sidebar on the right.

Thank you Mimi for your wonderful review of my photography. You have made the long hours I have spent addicted to blogging all worth it.

Mimi’s review of my photoblogs can be viewed here.

Music Reviews at Scooter McGavin's

2006-08-21T21:30:00.000+12:00

I have just been over checking out Scooter McGavin's 9th Green and particularly enjoyed his recent post It’s not that We Don’t Care We Just Know that the Fight Ain’t Fair. In this post Scooter reviews five recently published music videos courtesy of YouTube. These are all great vids and great music and worth checking out. My favourite was the new song by John Mayor - Waiting on the World to Change. You can find Scooter's site by clicking on the image on the top right of this blog in My Renter's Space.

Commenting - A Great Way to Get Traffic to Your Site

2006-08-17T12:40:00.000+12:00

Free, Friendly, Polite and Easy

There are many, many ways to entice people to come along to check out your blog. Some will even cost you money. Of all the ways possible, the best way to get people to check out your blog is by visiting and leaving sincere comments on other their blogs. After all, isn’t that what you want people to do at yours?

As proof of this, for every comment that has been left on my blogs, I have clicked on the commenter’s name and gone along to check out their blogs - without fail. I believe that if someone has taken the time to read my blog and leave a comment, the least I can do is to return the favour.

Comment Spamming

By leaving comments, I don’t mean leaving a comment on every blog you visit just to promote your blog. This is called spamming. If someone writes a comment on one of my posts that has no reference or relevance to the post, my blog or me, I will delete it. So will most other bloggers, I imagine.

If the blog you are visiting does not interest you and you can not think of anything polite or constructive to add, then don’t. There are literally millions of other blogs out the in the Bloggersphere, just hit the 'next blog' button.

Commenting Etiquette

What I mean by constructive commenting is to read their blog, and then relate to it in the comment you write. If you can work it in, use the 'href' tool to link directly back to your blog. If not, that is fine too, because if the blogger or readers want to check out who is behind the comment, they will click on your name (if you have logged in) to comment.

In the comments section of 10 Reasons Why I Don’t Like Your Blog, BlogBloke discusses the issue of commenting, and raises some interesting points. In particular, he notes that you want to make it as easy as possible for people to comment on your blog. This means allowing anyone to comment, and by not using comment moderation. After all, if you don’t like a comment someone has left, you have the option to delete it. Using word verification is better because it only takes a moment, and can filter out computer generated spamming programs.

I don’t agree however, with BlogBloke’s thoughts in his 10 Reasons... comments section about anonymous commenting. I think if you have taken the time to visit someone’s blog, it should not be too much more effort to log in and claim ownership for your comment. Do you want to remain anonymous because you are not proud of the comment you are leaving? If so, perhaps you should just hit the ‘next blog’ button instead. To give an analogy, someone leaves a note in your letterbox saying they do not agree with the way you drive your car. They don’t sign it though, because they wish to remain anonymous. What are you going to do with this note? Most probably ignore it and throw it away. Or in the case of blog comments, probably just ignore it.

Be brave enough to log in when you leave a comment. By leaving a comment and claiming ownership to that comment, you are also leaving a link back to your blog, which is of course promoting traffic back to your blog. This becomes a sort of temptation to treat for the owner and readers of the post.

Another important etiquette lesson I did learn by reading 10 Reasons... is that it is polite to reply to comments left on your blog. Until I read this, I have to admit that I was guilty of not doing it. If we say something, we all like the person we are talking to, to at least acknowledge our existence. There is nothing worse than taking the time to compose an intelligent comment and then being ignored.

By commenting, you are also acknowledging the blogger’s writing. Commenting is like clapping at a concert when the band finishes playing their song. There would be nothing worse than the crowd standing there staring silently at them showing no emotion.

I welcome your comments…

New: Rent My Blog – Welcome to Scooter McGavin

2006-08-16T19:27:00.000+12:00

Rent My Blog is a service offered by Blog Explosion where Blog Explosion members can rent advertising space on another member’s blog in exchange for credits. In this case Scooter McGavin has rented my blog, and has the honour of being my first’ renter’.

Scooter McGavin lives in Ohio in the United States, and blogs about anything from music to TV to sports and politics. He has just recently published his 500th post, and also has 40 of the top 111 wussiest songs on his ipod.

You can view Scooter’s blog by clicking on the link on the top right of my blog page. Please check out his blog and be sure to mention that I sent you. Scooter McGavin will be with me for the next 7 days. Also, borrowing an idea from Jbcarey, I will ask Scooter if he would like to write a ‘guest post’ here at the end of his renting period.

Welcome Scooter, to A World of Reeholio!

Jbcarey.Blog.Com

2006-08-15T19:39:00.000+12:00

I regularly surf blogs at Blog Explosion, and the other day I discovered JayB Carey’s blog called Jbcarey.Blog.Com. JayB lives and blogs from Belgium, and on his blog he runs competitions to win credits at Blog Explosion. While I was surfing his blog, I decided to also enter the current competition that was running at the time. I didn’t think any futher of it because I never have any luck in these sorts of things.

Until this morning, when I checked my email before leaving for work and discovered that I had won the competition! I know my blog was picked randomly, but I would like to thank JayB for picking my blog and I look forward to the traffic from the credits I won.

JayB’s blog Jbcarey.Blog.Com is a good read and I recommend checking it out. While you are there, have a look at the post by his outgoing renter The Blue Panther. In this post Blue Panther writes about the world becoming a smaller place because of the internet, and that people from the various corners of the world can, at the click of a button, get access to sites from the farthest point in the world. The Blue Panther’s thoughts remind me of why I created A World of Bloggers. That is, so that visitors to A World of Bloggers can reach out and touch others from around the world by reading, understanding, and then commenting on the blogs listed there.

I also recommend signing up for Blog Explosion. The blogs registered at Blog Explosion are (only) personal blogs, who would like to get more people to read writings. There are no crap spammy blogs there, like are often found at other sites. The way Blog Explosion works is that you earn credits by reading other blogs and then these credits are converted to traffic to your blog. A win-win situation!

Thanks again JayB, I’ll sure be back to check out your future writings (and competitions :-) )

The Power of Linking and Link Exchanges

2006-08-11T15:06:00.000+12:00

Yesterday my sitemeter at A World of Bloggers clicked over 1000 unique visitors from around the world. I am proud that this has occurred in just over two weeks since its inception. This was partly due to a bit of luck that the blog was seen by Bobby Griffin at Bestest Blog of All Time, and awarded the Bestest Blog of the Day for July 26 2006. Since then, interest for the blog has exploded.

As more and more people link to A World of Bloggers, it has been seen by their readers which has then attracted more interest. This has the follow-on benefit to those who already have their blogs linked there.

There is a lot of good articles written about the power of linking. I first discovered this concept at InstaBloke's Tips for Successful Blogging, where tip 14 states: 'Don't be stingy with your links. The search engines will love you for it'. This tip links to another article that explains the power of linking in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). A synopsis of this article is basically that one of the ways Google ranks websites and blogs is by the amount of incoming links. It counts each of these links as votes by third parties that the website is popular and therefore is worth being ranked higher in the search engine results. ProBlogger.net also has a good article about SEO that is worth reading if you would like to know more.

Another article worth reading is Instabloke's article on Why You Shouldn't Use Blogrolling.com. The reason, he explains, is that blogrolling uses a javascript to create the blogroll and not simple html code links that the search engines are looking for to your site. If you would like to learn how to modify the links section on your blog, see here.

I have also recently discovered that linking can be dangerous. One moment you are clicking on links from one to the next, discovering more new and exciting stuff, when suddenly from the next link you are confronted with graphic content you were least expecting. Whoa!

What I am leading to by this post is that I welcome link exchanges with other bloggers. Please leave me a comment or send me an email and we can go from there. Sorry, no spam, overly graphic content or objectionable content please.

Time Magazine

2006-08-10T21:24:00.000+12:00

Well, not quite millions yet. But, I'm slowly working on it.

I was surfing through blogs at Blog Explosion and came across the blog of Jonathan Shaw of Seattle. He has a link there to the website to create these covers. Thanks Jonathan, what a hoot!

Another Award!!!

2006-08-09T15:09:00.000+12:00

Congratulations to me again!

I was browsing through my blogs just now, and I have discovered a comment left at Discoveries in the Bloggersphere a couple of days ago. It was from Rob at Blog of the Day.org. He had left a message to tell me that a post on this blog had been chosen for the "Blog of the Day for Blogging" award. Check out Blog of the Day.org and register your blog there too.

Wow, that's two awards in two weeks. If my health ever deteriorates to the point that I can no longer fly, I may look at a career in website design or similar. There's probably more money in it too. Hmmm...

Apple

2006-08-08T13:52:00.002+12:00

Alessia in France has just joined A World of Bloggers today. While I was checking out her blog, I discovered a second blog she has put together called i smile! Here she has borrowed a similiar idea from Spread Your Smile and is posting photos of people with their apple products such as ipod, imac or ibook. Unfortunately, I do not own any apple products, but I have interpreted her rules that say "anything apple" to include this delicious New Zealand apple that I am about to eat for afternoon tea. Check out i smile! and add your apples too.

Disclaimer: No apples were harmed in the making of this blog.

Fantastic Sunset

2006-08-07T20:18:00.001+12:00

My father has given me two photos to post of one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. He took these photos from the balcony of his house in Paremata, Wellington in November 2004. Check them out in my photo gallery of sunsets, or by clicking on the photos below:

Harry and the Hendersons

2006-08-06T21:09:00.000+12:00

Yesterday I discovered the dangers of following links from others' blogs. As a result I created a post about a blog I found that generated pseudonyms for male parts. I have since deleted that post, but at the same site I did find this blogging personality generator. After answering a few simple questions, it generated my blogging personality profile as:

Your Blogging Type is Social and Responsible

You enjoy blogging and do all you can to advance the blogging community.
From helping friends set up blogs to getting rid of spam - you take a leadership role.
A super blogger, you tend to blog regularly. You'd hate to disappoint your audience.
And always appropriate, there's no way you'd blog something too personal!

What's Your Blogging Personality?

Says it all really!

Template Fiddling

2006-08-06T18:14:00.000+12:00

I have been learning how to fiddle with the template by adjusting the style settings using CSS. I don't really know what I am doing yet, but using the good old trial and error process. I think it has worked so far. The website I have been teaching myself is w3 Schools.

Next step is to try to insert a picture into the title area. Hmmm...

World Famous in New Zealand

2006-08-05T20:52:00.000+12:00

A few days ago I was asked what New Zealand was famous for. I struggled at the time to think of things that were "world famous" and not just famous to New Zealanders. So, I have put together a blog about all the stuff and things that are World Famous in New Zealand

Discoveries in the Bloggersphere

2006-08-05T14:17:00.001+12:00

Have you ever surfed the bloggersphere by pressing the "Next Blog" button at the top of this page? The world is made up of very diverse and interesting people. This blog is a collection of the blogs I have discovered in the bloggersphere. Check them out here.

Bestest Blog of the Day Winner!

2006-08-05T14:17:00.000+12:00

Update: My A World of Bloggers blog has won the Bestest Blog of the Day award for July 26 2006 at BestestBlog.com. Congratulations to me!

A World of Bloggers

2006-08-05T14:07:00.000+12:00

A World of Bloggers

We live in a very large world made up of extraordinarily diverse people from many cultures and countries. I enjoy reading blogs from people from around the world. It makes our large world seem that little bit smaller. My aim is to list one person's blog per country /territory as listed in the blogspot.com profiles. Join me in bridging the gaps in our world by including your blog in my A World of Bloggers. Let’s take back the internet!

Welcome to Reeholio's Home Blog

2006-08-01T19:54:00.000+12:00

This started out as an idea I had to publish my ideas about stock market trading to share with the many people that have asked me how, why, where etc. Check them out here:

Photo Gallery

I enjoyed making that series of articles so much that I am now hooked on blogging and have also published some of my best photos to share with the world. Please be sure to check them out in my Photo Gallery.

Hello Bloggers

A big hello to the other bloggers out there who have stumbled across my blog. Please leave me a comment somewhere, and I'll be sure to return the favour by checking out yours.

More blogs to come soon...

Regards, Rhys (aka Reeholio)