New Zealand Army Warriors farewell their fallen comrades

Thanks to America's SgtMaj for this link.

New Zealand's indigenous Warrior culture is embraced by the NZ military.

This clip is a traditional HAKA ceremony farewelling their fallen "brothers" - lost recently to an attack in Afghanistan

Haka --sometimes termed a posture dance could also be described as a chant with actions. There are various forms of haka; some with weapons some without, some have set actions others may be 'free style.' Haka is used by Māori (indigenous people of New Zealand) for a myriad of reasons; to challenge or express defiance or contempt, to demonstrate approval or appreciation, to encourage or to discourage, to acknowledge feats and achievements, to welcome, to farewell, as an expression of pride, happiness or sorrow. 

Caption This Winner

We have a WINNER

As picked by the independent umpire......

Babe, I told you that was some premo shit.

Congratulations to Coffeypot!

Candy mmmmmman

Love the background guys in uniform! :)

Cat on the Mat with a Rat

Breaking news.... my cat has registered her disapproval with tonight's meal choice by getting her own "Fast Food"

Why yes... yes that IS a rat in her jaws of doom...

She can't quite work out why she's been exiled to the veranda.

Pax is feeling challenged

well.... at least I THINK these could be used as challenge coins... perhaps? maybe?

Although I only have a very hazy idea what a CC is - and perhaps these are too big and too heavy.

Anyshinycoin (as my friend Coffeypot would say)

I originally ordered TWO of these - with the thought that I would keep one for my collection and use the second as a future blog prize.

Through an accounting glitch I have ended up with FOUR of them (all duly paid for after I contacted the supplier and advised them they had oversupplied, but I loved them and would keep.. oh and here's my credit card info for the other two...)

Front & Back of the Medallions
Got them from HERE

They are quite heavy... but oh so pretty.  [Australian Army Rising Sun insignia on the front - Australian flag & slouch hat on the reverse]

And seeing that I now have THREE extras... do you think this is the sort of thing that would be of interest to someone that is currently serving "DOWNRANGE" - or would it be one more piece of heavy junk for them to drag about?

One of them WILL be used as a Blog competition in the next few months for my regular readers.  I just need some inspiration on what sort of competition to run.

Hmm....

Limerick comp?  "There once was a Pax from Downunder..."

Haiku perhaps? "Winter Pax rejoices..."

A Nordic Ode? "Bright the day, and kindness surrounds..."

Ehh... or maybe a Military Mentor might make mirthful merriment magically materialise (aka... someone send me a Silly Photo to Caption please!)

Seriously I am open to *most* suggestions

August Milsupporting

Yay! I have just joined up with the Soldiers Angels Letter & Epal writing team - and just sent off my first "Hello! How are you?" email.

Hoping it will make the recipient smile when he receives it :)

And my Adopted troopers are hopefully well and enjoying various treats sent over the last month.  It can be a bit hard finding the "Very Thing" to send when you have no contact back but I will keep sending a mix of the useful and the ridiculous - and hope that the parcels are reaching the Lads. Perhaps one day I will hear from them. Until then, I just take comfort in the fact that none of my letters, postcards or parcels are being returned to me marked "Unknown" and keep praying that they are safe and well and constantly amused/bewildered/amazed at the things I manage to send them.

This months parcel is a "Mystery Box" of goodies from the Soldiers Angel store.  Sounds like a lot of fun (with practical items included too) so I hope the parcels reach them soon.

CAPTION contest

So how about a quick competition?

okay... so this photo is boring.. lets find another one.



Copyright holder unknown (advise if it's YOU)

Okay so this is a far cuter photo found in the infinite depths of the Internet.

So what say you? Can you think of a nice caption for this photo?


CAPTION ME! The Funniest, Wittiest or Awww-ful will win the prize

The Rules:-

Write a CAPTION for this photo

Must be PG-13! (if you feel that using a rude word is required then bleep it out - let's think of the potential that one day my Mum might read this)

You do NOT need to be a regular reader of this blog to enter (sniffle... but you COULD stick around and read more - just saying)

You can be from anywhere in the world.

If you win - you will need to supply me with a mailing address. I promise to hold the information safely and never share it beyond my Post Office.

If you leave your entry under the "Anonymous" tag - please be sure to add your name or nickname at the bottom so I can track you down later should you win.

If you find that Blogger won't let you post a message or worse - it disappears into the ether - then email me directly (you can find my e address under my profile)

The Winner will need to contact me by last day of August 2012 at the latest with their mailing address or there will be a redraw.

The Winning Joke will be judged on or about the 25th of August

And the prize....