The busy week.

OK - you'll need to bear with us on the next recap for a couple of days.

As you've been reading, it's been  an exceptionally busy week... and I think it's finally caught up with us.  A pair of tired lads, to be sure.
We had Waimea College open house Monday, Nelson Boys Wed night, and Guys and Dolls last night..
This week has also seen a return to itinerant, menial labour (i.e. paying the bills), and the usual volleyball Thurs, doing a combo on the ever increasing body niggles.
Others have endured "open house week" with; daily training for next week's cross-country meet, walking home from the bus stop (Work those calves!), and playing an absolute blinder of a basketball game last night.  Far and away, the most inspired and focussed game so far.  It was only a bit of rim and some hard luck, that separated him and double digits.  Yeaaaaah Boyyyy!
So we hope you don't mind, while we recover a bit.

For objectivity's sake, I'll withhold any details about Nelson Boys night, and instead mention a few add-ons from the Waimea night that we've recalled, and maybe some other info-bits that have been queried -

• Not only does Waimea have the renowned Nick Sharpe teaching there, the music department has a professional recording studio to boot.  For the year 9 music unit, every student receives a CD of their final 12 bar blues performance.
• Bonus! The boy's first assignment in said class is already done.  We stopped by after the tour to say "Hi" to Nick, checking out the music room in more detail, and happened to be flipping through the course guidebook.  The first page was a series of questions to be answered after a viewing of The Blues Brothers.  Something along the lines of- Which singer, who played the diner owner and sang "You Betta' Think", was known as the queen of soul?    Sorted.
• They've got a ska band.
• Also on staff is Jack Redpath, local volleyball demi-god and coach extra-ordinaire.  No pressure son.   
• Unsubstantiated rumour has it that waimea is 2nd largest high school in NZ!
• Along the BIG school lines... If you remember the story of watching the headmasters' opening address by video link - Keep in mind, that was the first of two sessions that night.  A Huge school.
• Also keep in mind "High school" here lasts for 5 years.  So don't get too freaked out by the numbers.

There is a government agency here in NZ called the Educational Review Office, that does precisely that - regularly reviews all the education providers in the country.  Those of you who would like to do more study about this topic, can do so in your own time - here.

Tip - While you are there you might want to take a look at the review for Upper Moutere School that is hot of the presses.  According to a recent congratulatory Dear Parents letter from one of the board members; the school has just received the best possible review.  (It should probably come as no surprise that this letter writer also happens to be head of the Nelson Chamber of Commerce.)  Such eloquence should do Voltaire proud.

OK -   Spoiler alert!
Just one little leak from Nelson Boys night -

• In the, all important and much anticipated:      "Open House -  Treats " category...          Nelson Boys scored a shocking 0              I know.    Gasp!

One further completely-unrelated thing:
If any of our readers out there are curious as to how a political cartoonist, at a small(ish) town-newspaper, out in the wop-wops;  would view some recent tragic events -

What I don't understand is:   If this pretty regular guy (the cartoonist, not me for god's-sake), half way around the world, can get it.... what's it gonna' take??  I've lived through too many of these "moments of silence" already!
(See the body shape?  It's that elephant again!)

In many regards, I think the best thing we can all do now... is pray Burg takes a long time to decide where to go to school, so that I don't run out of relatively benign subjects to blog about.  Because none of us really want to go in that territory : )

Apologies to anyone who finds my tone excessively facetious.  
A few blogs back, I mentioned something about this blog acting as a, most likely, futile attempt at maintaining a whisker of sanity in an increasingly f___'d up world.  (Sorry, mom)
This author is a firm believer in the therapeutic benefits to be gained by occasionally laughing in the face of madness.