Magic of Methven and 30 years of Brett

Brett of Weta Animation turned 30. When a man turns 30, you got to plan the weekend of their life. We didn't plan much other than a day of boarding on the mountain, but turns out we all had the weekend of our lives. In a town that has a total population of 439. here is the tail of some of the magic we experienced in Methven and how it made Brett's 30th MY favorite birthday to date.

One of my favorite things in life is Oktoberfest. It might be because i feel like a real man when i wear Lederhose or it might be that my heart sings when i hear polka; whatever it is, lil' Methven made my Lederhose into Liederhose(song pants).
Birthday boy brett goin' kraut to the tune of chicken dance courtesy of Oooompah band.
I met the guy that took Katie and I 4wheelin' when we were in Christchurch 6months ago.

The next morning we headed up to Mt Hutt, one of the most beautiful drives and ecological changing drives ever. what does that even mean? It means we went from driving along a river surrounded by flat, green pastures to a dense evergreen forest to being inside a dense white cloud to being in at the top of a mountain range - all in 30 min; on a dirt road. After we cleared the cloud cover-
Brett boarded with a cape. He was saluted by many and luckily he survived the dangers of the chairlift cranks every time.
I played baseball while we got organized to set a world record. I hate organization when it takes away from my time on an open mountain.
We set a world record (that's my 2nd).
The first was for balancing eggs on the equinox, this was for having 207 board riders in a single race. I am the dude in the back attached to the tallest black flag.
At one point we hiked to the very top of the mtn, got lost in a cloud, blindly snowboarded down in whitewash, over a frozen lake and then out into the clear blue skies of Mt Hutt. using sonar we were able to stick together. Simo and I trekking along the top ridge.
That night they had fireworks and motorcross jumpers and board and ski freestyle jumping competition. Only 2 people ended up being flown out to the nearest hospital in Christchurch. They sure know how to entertain, broken collarbones on failed bacflips, arms in slings and helicopters landing in nearby fields.
Next day Brett and a few others got in a 1/2 day while i chilled and read 5000 year leap at the lodge. This was Brett before he launched intothe backcountry and was never heard from for 3 hours.
The magic of methven didn't stop even on the way out of town. A 1000 sheep surrounded our car on the highway; they were being herded by a farmer in his truck and a collie.

Avatar Day

Today the world watches the trailer to the movie that my coworkers and i have worked on for 3+ years (well, for me about 6 months).

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/avatar/hd/

I had the YSA paint my face like a Navi to celebrate - it started off close, but finished... err, different.
I did not get to act like a 10' tall blue alien this round for the animators, that honor is reserved only for Frenzy in Transformers.

international crime

this post is dedicated to Foodest, who has attempted so many times to uphold justice and to Grayden, who is doing a background check on the entire family since he is marrying my sister in 6 weeks. i just want to come clean of all misdeeds.

The NZ police can't carry guns on them, they lie safe at the station where they can check them out if such an occasion warrants a firearm. So, they do the only thing they can, they write tickets. I got one. My first speeding ticket in my life, well, except for last time I was in New Zealand - but that time it was only a camera in the back of a parked civilian-looking van that caught me going 10km over, but by the time the ticket was mailed, i had fled the country and was hiding in the Wasatch Mountains.
This is the first time i was ever pulled over and actually got a ticket for speeding. I say speeding because I got a dozen booting fines in Provo, 9 parking tickets in LA and 1 red light violation; most of which i fought through letters.

Alas, all the good ones eventually get caught and must pay. I didn't really know what to say since the police officer that pulled me over caught me going 14km over the posted limit, which i thought was only 7 mph over, which i should have been able to talk my way out of, but i couldn't and he quickly gave me a 2nd fine for Warrant of Fitness being outdated. Probably due to my charm and mostly because of my accent, he gave me 14 days compliance to get my WoF, which would negate that $200 fine. The speeding portion was $150, which I promptly paid online.
Given my previous experience with bolshevik booters of Provo and commies of CA parking bureau, I was not in the least surprised when i got a notice from the NZP saying i still owed $200 for not having git my WoF. I pulled up my saved letter, changed a few sentences here and there and straightway mailed to PO Box for the NZ Police.
Amazingly, yesterday i got an answer -
Dear Sir (yeah, no punctuation)
I refere to your correspondence regarding the above infringement.
The "warrant of fitness" charge has been waived In relation to the remaining offence as the infringement fee has already been paid, no further action is required.


Never have i received a letter like that in response to a ticket. Never. Man, i love new zealand. Hooray and heel grab.

Japan - Maximum Destruction

A couple of cool guys went to a seemingly pretty cool place. Most people call it Japan.


Most people also know that Max^3 are cooler than humans and you can't do anything better than them and if you try, you'll embarrass yourself and fleas from a 1000 camels will swarm around you and infest your armpit hair. I don't want to shave, so i'm not going to try. Follow the links for a better story than I could ever tell :


Fact #1 : Ninjas are good Cooks

Fact #2 : Ninjas love Bright Lights, Department Stores and Cool Guy Drinks

Fact #3 : Ninjas flip out all the time and build Temples

Fact #4 : The Purpose of a Ninja is NOT to dress like freaky little girls

Fact #5 : Both Ninjas and Fishermen prefer to Kill really early in the Morning

Fact #6 : Ninjas can Pause their own Backflips



All in all, Japan was cool; and by cool, I mean totally sweet.

KtnNZ - S. Island

Dear Reader, Wizard People,
I am catching up on the last 2 months b/c I was temporarily entrenched in the weightier matters of life. I return and now show you, dear reader, my adventures of late, that you might one day choose to join me in this enchanted land to explore the land of hobbits, wizards and animators.

Come with me and rollerblade along Oriental Bay. With the wind to your back you reach speeds of about 40kmh. Against the wind, well, you might have to hitchhike back.
Buy a cheap flight to the south island, as we did one long weekend, make the olde english towne of Christchurch your homebase, and then venture out into the open land and hopefully you won't encounter some of the most unfriendly weather this side of the equator. Really, it was freezing everyday we took to the highways. Ah, but the weather will shine down on you in the home of the Crusaders. Climb the churchy tower thing, but beware the slippery and narrow spirally staircase -
Jot across the square, through the old courtyard, around the corner, past the Holy Grail and into the botanical gardens. In winter, they are less botanical and more, uhh dead. But you can still find some small entertainment if you stumble upon the Peace Bell and take it for a ride.
For a quick refresher, punt across the Avon to the Olde Fudge Cottage. As the tale goes, 4 yrs ago a grey-haired father traveling with his family came into that very Shoppe and from the very same lady pictued below bought 96 bars of every possible flavor of fudge. That record still stands.
After you've had enough with the City, head north to Hamner Springs, home of thermal hot springs and some snow in the peak winter months. Please 4 wheel :
Journeying along the motorway direction Queenstown, the weather turned naughty nasty. It was so cold that we ended up driving around until we saw something ridiculously beautiful, 1 would run outside the car and fake a smile thorugh chattering teeth while the other took the picture from the car.
And there was a cave with water running thru it. it was cool. but much too cold and much too dark to go too far without dying.
End of Adventure.
Sincerely,
Author