Disaster relief

A busy day today. The kids are still on holiday and I have my mum watching them while I finish work, so I'll have to limit my blogging to posting these pics and maybe a few quick thoughts about their creation.

Life is settling down now as I get back into my normal routine in a new place. The studio is superb, but still filled with boxes and boxes of books I have yet to unpack. I don't know if I'll have enough wallspace to accommodate the shelves I need for them, so I might have to get creative.

In my previous studio – the comfortable but diminutive shed – I had resorted to using them as furniture, placing my cups of tea on whatever stack was close by. Not really the way such good friends as books should be treated.

Anyway, life gets sunnier each day as the distance grows between the present and that cataclysmic period at the end of November when I briefly – for about half a second – wondered if their was any point in living. Making plans for the future (even if they never come to fruition and are only a source of amusement for the Creator) and stalwartly getting on with things seems to be the best antidote for self-pity and the temptation to dwell on what might have been.

The die has been cast, decisions have been made; all that's left is choosing where to go from here. If the past is a distant country, then my passport to it has been cancelled and I'm now securing visas for all sorts of other exciting destinations.

Maybe I'll go on holiday to Fiji soon.

Or not, at least while the military is in charge and its citizens continue to be denied the right to chose their own government. The recent floods seem to have exposed the junta's achilles heel as it struggles to cope with the damage to infrastructure.

Yesterday it was reported that Fiji was planning to seek outside help, possibly from New Zealand and Australia, which sends an interesting message: butt out of our affairs and leave us alone, except when we've brought the country to ruin and require you to save us.

To be fair, the recent natural destruction wasn't of the Commodore's making, but you have to wonder which disaster has affected the country worse – his autocratic rule which has devastated the economy, or the rains which are finishing the job.

I'm going to miss George W, but for all the wrong reasons. As I've said before, editorial cartooning isn't a victimless humour, and the best material comes when the world is going insane and our political leaders are flubbing their lines.

Recently picking on the American President has become too easy and I've limited what I have to say, but with his imminent departure I thought it was appropriate to cast one last barb his way. His legacy deserves nothing less.

I was thinking about how Bush Jr will be remembered when the image of his Presidential library being housed in a shoe came to mind. After that, the limerick came easily.

Boy, John Key's Government took off too a fast start before Christmas, didn't it? Contrast that to the speed with which National is returning from holiday to deal with the economic crisis, and it makes you wonder where their priorities lie. A third of the "first one hundred days of action" are gone; now, like the proverbial hare, they'll have to sprint for their lives to gain ground on the disaster overtaking New Zealand.

A good thing to remember about marathon racing is this: never start out faster than you think you can finish. National has got off to a blistering start, but can they hold that pace for nine years, much less the next three?

Have a good weekend everyone!