Hard News: Again: Is everyone okay?
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Che Tibby, in reply to
done. you can send an email direct via the parliament website.
note that the Minister must reply to Ministerial Correspondence.
there will be some grad policy analysts shitting themselves somewhere having to reply to these.
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recordari, in reply to
Righto: by popular demand – well, Sacha
+1
ETA: It feels like the thread could still do with a bit of 'refreshing'.
Anyone better equipped to do that want to have a go? Anyone?
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Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
Good thought Che, of which I will do as soon as I get home this afternoon. I’m a firm believer in calling them to account.
ETA. Oh, just as we get a new thread, all political like. -
Sacha, in reply to
by popular demand -- well, Sacha
the power :)
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On a slightly more cheerful note, Canterbury Film Society president Ryan Reynolds (really) might not have a home but was elected president of the New Zealand Federation of Film Societies at their AGM over the weekend.
Sadly, the CFS will not be kicking off their season next Monday along with the rest of us. The ceiling has fallen in at the Regent Cinema, which was to have been the venue this year, and the fate of the brochures, which are waiting to be collected from the printer, is unknown. I understand nobody is expecting the CFS to get up and running before May or June at the very earliest.
I hope you'll all join with me in wishing all the best for Ryan and his partner Coralie, who are having some chill out time in Wellington. Loves and hugs to you both, and all the rest of the CFS and Christchurch Film Festival crew.
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
at their AGM over the weekend.
That's just totally awesome. City's devastated, hundreds are dead, but they still hold their AGM. Yay for the triumph of the human spirit over adversity!
And I'm being totally serious here, before anyone rants about inappropriate sarcasm.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
That’s just totally awesome. City’s devastated, hundreds are dead, but they still hold their AGM. Yay for the triumph of the human spirit over adversity!
That's the AGM of the national umbrella organisation, which was held in Wellington -- equally inconvenient for everyone else. But I'm still awfully impressed that Ryan showed up - don't think anyone would have thought any the worse of him if he'd just sent an apology. In the great scheme of things, the CFS might seem pretty petty but a lot of people have worked very hard over a lot of years to make it one of the most successful film socs in New Zealand. I hope they'll be back sooner rather than later.
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On a related note, I'd be very pleased if someone could let me know how Christchurch's various cultural and creative organisations have fared.
I have a funding-raising idea, and it would be useful to know which trusts etc are most in need of help.
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Hungrymama writes.
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recordari, in reply to
Hungrymama writes.
...extremely well.
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Paul Williams, in reply to
they've better things to do...?
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It's now nearly a week, and it feels right to take stock of how my reactions to this have unfolded. Indulge me, it's been complex.
Like many Wellingtonians, I can't help feeling that we've dodged a bullet, but it's left me feeling shaken and queasy that Christchurch was the innocent bystander that copped it.
We've become a bit estranged, Christchurch, despite our long history together, but you'll always be my first urban love, the place where I discovered I could be amongst like-minded people and not have to constantly compromise myself. That love affair cooled, especially as Christchurch made some dumb decisions and did its best to become yet another nondescript, suburban mall horror story with all the provincialisation of outlook that comes with that. This week, all of that is forgotten.
I've been struggling all week with reactions that seem off-key. I wasn't too bothered at first when I heard the cathedral had lost its spire (that's happened before), but that was replaced by irrational and disproportionate anger with shell-shocked reporters who can't get their ecclesiastical architecture right and distinguish a spire from the whole bloody tower.
The last of my family to report in, a pretty resilient cousin, could manage nothing but the word 'numb' even 30 hours later. The questions from the rest of us were met with incoherence then silence. I know she's unhurt, but I can't help feeling she's not remotely safe. Yet when I saw the first familiar face amongst the missing/dead, I could see what she meant by being numb. All I could feel was a sense of resignation. Perhaps that's appropriate for the death of a passing acquaintance, or perhaps I'm still not processing the scale of it all.
The meme I struggled most with at the outset was that the buildings aren't important. Buildings aren't as important as people, I can agree to that. But not important? Eight generations of my family have lived in and around the city, and our history is woven with its physical fabric. The places where my tupuna shared their joy, sought solace, and worked to make better lives are gone for good. I can't look on those stones any more and think about the stories that go with them. This, I think, will be the hardest for me to cope with in the long run.
I haven't cried yet, although it's there in the gullet, waiting to happen. Maybe today.
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I forgot to say amongst the verbiage - PAS'ers of Christchurch, you're all bloody fantastic. You remind me why I loved the place so much in the first place. Kia kaha.
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This from Cheryl Bernstein this morning was just beautiful I thought. (Hers have also been some of the most eloquent and literate tweets.)
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Jackie Clark, in reply to
I see that Emma had tweeted that she would like to see a place where all of the most poignant and beautiful eqnz posts could be. I think that would be fantastic.
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This afternoon, one of our very young grandmothers came in to drop off her grandchild. They had been away for a wee while, and we had wondered where they were because she’s always really good at letting us know. She had rung us yesterday to tell us that her brother had been killed in the cathedral spire, so when she came in, you can bet I was ready with open arms. They’ve had a rough few years this family, with close family members dying from illness, sudden and prolonged, and suicides, and now this. I just held her very tight.
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I see that Emma had tweeted that she would like to see a place where all of the most poignant and beautiful eqnz posts could be. I think that would be fantastic.
And I was thinking that the tweets ought to be collected, possibly in a book, although it's a terribly fraught thing.
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Jackie Clark, in reply to
People writing their own history is a powerful thing.
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Lara,
Some of you may have seen this footage of the central city taken almost immediately after the quake. For those who don't know the CBD, the footage goes down Lichfield St to the intersection of High Street, Lichfield Street & Manchester Street.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-earthquake/videos/4704343
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Sacha, in reply to
possibly in a book
how quaint
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Philip Matthews on the quake and the history of another Christchurch suburb.
For a long time, more than a century, Waltham was a suburb in the shadow of the gasworks. In fact, Waltham Road -- pictured above -- was once known as Gasworks Road; it appears in Christchurch newspapers under that name as early as the 1870s. The gasworks and the railways were big employers here; the streets were lined with modest, wooden workers' cottages. Even after the earthquakes, many of those cottages are still standing.
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Heading off from work shortly, and will be going to Westminster Cathedral for prayer vigil for earthquake at 7pm. Not usually my type of thing, but am feeling the need for at least some quiet contemplation.
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Some levity.
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HUGE turnout at Westminster Cathedral - was lucky to get inside, as it was freezing in London this evening. Not sure why the Herald chose to illustrate their story with a picture of Westminster Abbey though....
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10709868
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Susannah, and hungrymama (and everyone else reporting in, but those are the names I see on the page in front of me): thank you for writing. There is honesty in complexity and it makes the whole picture bigger.
And Jackie: oh. Just, oh.
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