It's our blog's anniversary...

And you're part of the party!

Today, Backup Brain is seven years old. We're still committed to sharing with you our take on technology, politics, and culture. We've had a lot of fun over the past seven years, and we still love doing this blog. Sometimes we wonder if we should write more about this subject, or that subject. But it's funny; we seem to get a lot of comments and feedback about all kinds of posts. Some of them are my political posts; some are Dori's thoughts about tech. We've had talks about making Backup Brain less of a potpourri and focusing it more. That could happen, but for now we're going to keep doing what we've been doing.

We'd like to hear your thoughts, too. Do you think we do some things better than others? Let us know in the comments.

Here on the cruise ship, it's formal night. Soon I'll be climbing into my tuxedo, and Dori will be slipping into her low-cut and spaghetti-strapped black dress. We will look fabulous. Photographic proof to come.

And tonight, in recognition of our blog's anniversary, we will raise a glass to each other, and drink a toast to you. Thanks for accompanying us on this journey.

Dutch pride

It's 1 PM on Sunday, November 5. For those joining the show in progress, we're aboard Holland America Line's ms Statendam, in the Tasman Sea, en route from New Zealand to the city of Burnie, Tasmania. Just now, the Captain got on the PA and gave us the meteorological and navigational rundown. I'm happy to report that the weather is fine here, though swells have the ship doing an up-and-down motion with a period of about 15 seconds. He also mentioned that the Tasman is named after a famous Dutch navigator, "Because if it isn't Dutch, it isn't much."

This has been another edition of Trivia at Sea.

Speaking of which, we're part of the twice-daily Team Trivia competition here and our team is crushing the other teams. Yesterday, I was in the library, and a sweet grandmotherly type actually started trash talking me about how she was gonna beat us like a drum. So I sassed her a little, then we beat their team in the next two bouts. Take that, Granny.

I should mention that our team name is The Spermologists, which our teammates swear means "Collectors of trivia." Me, I dunno. There's a rumor going around that we're going to need a team logo for the final rounds. Any of you have an idea for our logo outside of the obvious?

Christchurch deserved better

At least from us. The morning of November 2, the ship docked at Christchurch's port, a town called Lyttelton. It's quite a distance from Christchurch itself, which made it a bit difficult to get to and from. And we were here for only about 11 hours. So we relied on the ship's excursions, which were kind of a bust. Dori did an arts tour that didn't budget enough time for the Arts Centre (wtf?!). I did a schizophrenic tour called "Warbirds and Wine" that combined a visit to the Royal NZ Air Force Museum to see old military aircraft, followed by a wine tasting. The wine was good, but the combination of the two stops was kind of ludicrous.

I enjoyed the military museum a lot; it had great old airplanes, from fabric-winged biplanes, to a relatively modern (1980's vintage) jet fighter. In (I think) 1995, the NZ government decided to end the NZ Air Force's air combat capability, and now they serve in transport, search and rescue, and support roles. The folks at the museum offered to sell me some surplus jet fighters, but I couldn't figure how I would get them home, so I reluctantly demurred. Besides the planes, they have a lot of info and exhibits about the service and its history, including some beautiful stained glass windows. Some of these windows are tributes to NZ aviators lost during wartimes, and some are modern memorials, like the one I've shown here. If you take a look at it, you'll see in the lower right corner the NZ Air Force roundel (the insignia that goes on the sides of aircraft), which resembles the British one, except for the Kiwi in the middle. Other parts of the window commemorate navigators, paratroopers, bombadiers, and other specialties.

Unfortunately, I think that we gave Christchurch short shrift. While driving through town on the bus, I could see that it looked like a very interesting place that I ended up hardly seeing at all. If I were to return, I'd love to spend a few days here looking at the architecture, checking out some of their beautiful parks, and meeting more of the people.

It's Coals to Newcastle Day

Yesterday, we were in Picton, New Zealand. Haven't heard of it? Join the club. It's a town of 4500 at the top of the South Island, across the straits from Wellington. We were there for about six hours.

The South Island includes the Marlborough region, which is New Zealand's main wine growing area. They produce awesome Sauvignon Blancs, and good Pinot Noirs, Rieslings, Gewirtzraminers, and Chardonnays. We also saw some Merlots. It's a bit too cool for Cabs and Zins.

We live in Sonoma County, where we can go wine tasting anytime we want. We usually don't, though. So of course we did some wine tasting in New Zealand. We began at Montana Brancott Winery, which is not named for the US state, and isn't allowed to sell in the US under the Montana name. We did the winery tour, which included one thing I haven't seen in California, a room with huge (maybe 20 feet tall) French Oak barrels called cuves.

After a few more wineries, it was back to the ship for our next port of call, Christchurch.

Nice Place, Good People, We Must be in Wellington

On Halloween, we spent the day in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Rather than do some tour arranged by the cruise line, we spent the day with the fabulous Miraz, who lives here. She thoughtfully arranged the Dori and Tom 2006 Tour Itinerary, which included a driving and walking tour around Oriental Bay and up to the top of Mount Victoria for a terrific panoramic view of the city and harbour.

Then she dropped us at Te Papa, the National Museum. Though we could have spent days there, we only had a couple of hours, so we checked out the natural history wing. I learned that New Zealand hosts a terrific array of moth species that all look alike to me (apologies to all of our entomologist readers). (Do we have any entomologist readers? - Ed.). I also discovered that New Zealand is basically a series of volcanic islands that could blow up at any moment. The residents seem to take the prospect of fiery immolation with characteristic good cheer. They also have earthquakes here, and have the same unconcerned attitude towards them as most Californians.

After lunch at a very nice place on the beach with a great view of the bay, Wellington Airport, and surfers gamely trying to catch the swells, we were dropped back off at the ship, where I "had a wee bit of a snooze."

Miraz picked us back up for dinner at Kai in the City, a local Maori restaurant, where we met her charming partner Deb. If you visit Wellington, I highly recommend this restaurant, a small place with only 5 or 6 tables. The owner sings Maori songs, and distributes lyric sheets so everyone can join in. This is not optional. It is, however, lots of fun. We had a great day in Wellington, and big thanks to Miraz.