How to Make a Frappe

The easiest way to explain this culinary wonder is to say that it is a fancy slushy. For those of you who are lactose intolerant, this isn't the recipe for you.
Ingredients:
 Ice
 2.5 cups of milk
 3.5 T of milkshake powder (or Milo, or coffee, or a soft drink),
 a T of rum, brandy, kahlua or whiskey is optional (not all together)
 some spray-able cream  or mousse
 chocolate sauce 
 a mint leaf for a garnish.

Method:

1.Mix milk and milkshake powder (or coffee or a soft drink) together.

2.Put in blender with ice.

3.Blend until it retains a snow-like texture.

4.Pour into a glass (a sherry glass if you want to be fancy),

5.Top with cream in a swirl on top.

6.Garnish with chocolate sauce and/or a mint leaf for presentation.

This is a really refreshing drink that is best served on a hot day.

Serves 2-4

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Aliens and Weddings

The chances of there being life on other planets is virtually zero. But that does leave a tiny possibility that there is. Whatever the answer may be, this story suggests that there is.

On a distant planet in the Andromeda galaxy, a group of four aliens have a date with destiny. They (if their plan succeeds) will be the first of their kind to travel to another galaxy. Their names are A'lef: the leader, is a mild tempered averagely educated Orc from the planet Zzorc. Ma'kov, second in command, is an uneducated ex-convict that has a tendency of breaking things. D'rae, is what you'd call normal and last is Sebastian, the genius of the crew. The whole journey was made possible by Sebastian's latest invention: a warp projector. That allowed them to go from one side of the universe to another as quick as walking through a door.

All things were going according to plan until Ma'kov put the wrong directions in to the warp projector's navigation computer. The four ended up in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. After 5 adrenaline packed minutes of avoiding asteroids ranging from sand to planet size, they made it out in almost one piece.  The asteroids had taken out an engine. So the craft was hurtling out of control until it was caught by Earth's gravitational pull. The quartet crash landed in Yellowknife, Canada. All four Orcs survived the landing, thanks to D'rae's insisting on getting airbags fitted. The lot decided to go exploring, since there wasn't anything else to do.

About an hour later, they stumbled across a wedding. This was as exciting as it was nerve-wracking because the Orcs had never come across another species. They slowly advanced with plasma rifles at the ready, not knowing what to expect. They assumed these new life forms were friendly. While observing, they could sense a bit of anxiety in the crowd. The groom had forgotten the wedding, and was at work. The bride's cheeks were as pink as a pig's backside with humiliation. They decided to show themselves, thinking that they would lighten the mood. But it brought on a panic attack on the attendance. After convincing them that they were friendly, the four of them began to question the new life forms about everything. Ma'kov had discovered his latest most favourite food: wedding cake. Sebastian indulged in a new technology to him: the cell phone.

One of the other members of the audience called the groom and asked why he wasn't there at the wedding. The groom replied that he thought the wedding was next week. D'rae remembered that he'd brought along a teleporter. So he offered to teleport the groom to the wedding as a friendly gesture. It took about half an hour later (because the groom had to get showered and dressed). The two returned and the wedding commenced. Afterwards, it was time for the reception. The foods were all devine in every sort of way. Except though, A'lef was gluten intolerant; none of the foods there were gluten free. That meant that he was going to the bathroom once every 5 minutes. Now it is time for the cake. But, where could it have gone? Ma'kov had eaten the whole thing! No worries, there was plenty of ice cream to go around.

The four soon realised that they still had to get home. They thanked the new life forms for letting them stay and dashed back to the wreckage of their ship. A'lef found the warp projector. So now they could  get back to Zzorc in a flash. Everything was back to the way it should be. A'lef, Ma'kov, D'rae and Sebastian were now recognised as heroes - and back on Earth, the bride and groom are now happily married. And they all lived happily ever after. THE END

The Holidays

The recent lot of holidays haven't been the greatest holidays ever. The weather for the first three weeks especially was most atrocious. Constant torrential rain. Good thing that my brother and I bought a PlayStation 3 or otherwise those weeks would have been saturated with boredom as well as rain (not to mention that I wasn't all that well). At least I was away from school!

During the fifth week of the holidays, my family and I went off to a small settlement of beach houses thirty minutes north west of Whitianga in the Coromandel Peninsula called Opito Bay. It's about a three hour drive from Manurewa. Packing was a nightmare! We took two cars, my brother's quad-bike, and a third of our house contents with us.

We left on the Saturday at 11:00am. Our original goal was to leave at 10:00am but as per usual in our family, we are always 30 - 60 minutes late of our deadline. Any way, it was good to finally get down there to begin the daunting task of unpacking and putting things away. That was kind of difficult because the bach we were staying at was about the size of our lounge and kitchen (FYI, the bach is for sale).

The first night I had the best sleep in three years. Since the beach was about thirty yards from our bach, you can guess where we spent 50% of our time. As well as that, we did heaps of relaxing, and my brother did what he did best: terrorise the sea birds on his quad.

On our fourth day there, we went to the main town of Whitianga to do some shopping. The nice thing about Whitianga is that there are no traffic lights! And that 85% of the gift and nic-nac shops sold locally made stuff. Not all made in China as is often the case. For dinner, we were to indulge in some fish and chips on the beach. But it was most disappointing. For a start, the fish and chips were literally swimming in oil. Added to that, we had an onslaught of gnats and mosquitoes.

When the day came to go home, we were all sad. The thought of going back to the regular routines of our normal lives wasn't too promising. Once again, we had to pack which, just like last time, took ages. But we eventually got there. Three hours of negotiating  mountainous terrain and winding roads later, we were home. And you can guess what we did first. Unpack - which took forever. At least we could all sleep in our own beds!

To survive high school

For those of you who are year 8 and starting high school next year, it will be a big leap. In a sense, at primary school you are the big fish in the small pond, but next year in year 9 you will be the small fish in the ocean. High school in New Zealand is different to those you may have seen in cartoons.

Because there's no school bully who does wedgies noggies or swirlies. And there are no nerds. Unless that's how some dumb people see you as. At AC, not many use a locker to keep their stuff safe. most of us (including me) carry our stuff round in our bags. Don't worry, high school isn't really any different from primary school, except for the fact that every body will seem allot taller. (And rounder in some cases).

At AC, they are embracive of the Maori culture. That would explain the Marae. That also explains the Whanau house arrangement. In primary school, you may have had red house, yellow house etc. The same thing applies in AC. Except, the house are called Whanau. In AC there are 5 Whanaus: Kaitaataki (yellow), Whaianga (red, and the best because I'm in it), Tirohanga (blue), Kaitoro (green) and Auaha (purple). They all have there own meanings but I don't know them.

On your first day at AC, don't make the silly mistake that me and a few others did and bring every one of your books. Because you won't be doing anything with them for a week. Instead, just brig a refill pad and a pen. Of all your items of stationary, there is one book in particular that you just simply can't lose: your diary. It's basically a record of your learning and passport around the school. No diary, no trip to the toilet!

Apart from that, life at AC is usually pretty strait forward. Just do what you are told and you'll be fine.

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Thankyou letter to Miss Gutschlag

18th November 2011,

505 Alfriston Road

Manurewa

Auckland

Dear Miss Gutschlag,

                                    I wish to thank you for being such a great Social Studies teacher this year. I found you really approachable when I first met you and you seemed to be laid back and relaxed. Though the work was easy and I didn't learn a great deal, what I did learn, I enjoyed.  It was interesting learning about Malawi and the poverty topic. The poverty vortex and the 'rich north poor south devide' was all new to me.

I also liked the fact that you didn't blow a gasket each lesson, even though you were by my standards entitled to. Being able to put up with the  shenanigans of certain people over and over again took some feat! I don't know why you just didn't kick them out.

Anyway, I hope that you stay at AC next year. I'm sure that those crack-pots would have calmed down  by then and will not be disruptive - and some learning to take place for a change. Hopefully I will learn something more. I'm sure I will.

Yours sincerely,

Jacob Benniks

The Memorial

" Keep doing this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19)

The Memorial is a commemoration of Jesus Christ's death, celebrated by Jehovah's Witnesses between mid March and the beginning of April each year. It is the only event that the Bible commands Christians to celebrate. Worldwide attendance for 2010 was 18.7 million in 236 countries!  

The date of celebration varies from year to year because at the time of Jesus' death, the Jewish lunar calendar was used - not the Gregorian calendar in use today. The actual date of his death on the Jewish calendar was Nisan 14th which this year was 17th April (in 2012 it will be April 5th). The date is determined by the day in that month nearest the full moon.

A month prior to the Memorial, we begin a public invitation campaign to invite as many people as possible to attend (everybody is welcome to attend.)

The Memorial always begins after sundown, which coincides with the Jewish calendar (their day began at sundown). The venue is usually a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses (church), where each individual congregation gathers to celebrate the Memorial. (Congregations located relatively close together share Kingdom Halls, but for the Memorial celebration to accommodate the larger attendance, sometimes a community hall is hired.)

While it is a celebration with wine, the  Memorial isn't celebrated with partying like is so often seen in other celebrations. Rather, it is celebrated in a calm, respectful way, following the same pattern set by Jesus. First, a relevant song is sung and an opening prayer is offered. Second, a Bible-based talk is given about  when and why Jesus held the first Memorial with his disciples on the night before his death. (This is commonly known as the Lord's Supper.) Third, a prayer is given. Fourth, the bread representing Jesus' body is passed around the entire congregation. Similar to passover bread, this is no ordinary bread. It is made without any leaven or yeast because the  Bible often uses the term leaven as a symbol of sin or corruption - certainly not appropriate for a celebration of God's own son! Fifth, another prayer is given. Sixth, the wine symbolising Jesus' blood. But just not any wine will do. The  red wine must be pure and not fortified (Port or sherry, etc) wine representing Jesus' sinless blood. The wine is also passed around the entire congregation. Finally, a song is sung and a prayer is offered to conclude.

Lots do wonder though: Why are we celebrating a death? Because in doing so, Jesus paid with his life for what Adam had lost in the Garden of Eden. What this means for us is that it gives each and everyone of us the prospect of gaining everlasting life here on earth, as was God's original purpose for mankind.    

So if next April you get a knock on the door and someone hands you an invitation to the Memorial celebration in your area, why not come along and check it out?

A Memorial Celebration.

Free Rice screan - shot