Irony... Or should that be "Irany" (Ouch!)

So, on the same day that UK academics vote to boycott Israeli academics, in the name of freedom & democracy, Iran forbids its own academics from having any contact with any Western academics.

The effect in both cases is the same, even if the result is achieved from opposite directions. In the name of peace, UK academics have adopted the same strategy that the Iranian government is pursuing... in the name of what? Well, not peace, that's for sure!

It's important to challenge both countries- Iran's fostering of fundamentalism, Holocaust denial and anti-semitism, and its nuclear ambitions, and Israel's violent dispossession of the Palestinians and its nuclear ambitions. But how can we challenge if we don't engage in meaningful debate and a fee exchang eof ideas? A boycott suggests that we start from a position of moral superiority - we won't speak to you until you stop being so naughty! That's a little far from the truth - the UK does not represent an shining moral force in the world. Ask the Diego Garcians.

Message from Mars

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for taking the time to contact us in connection with the change of ingredients in our chocolate confectionery and ice cream range.

Please note that after recently changing the source of some of the whey that is used in some of our chocolate products we have received lots of feedback that this decision has made it difficult for some of you, especially those of you who are vegetarians, to continue to enjoy our products. We realise that we made a mistake and we apologise. We have committed that we at Mars UK will ensure that a selection of favourite brands including Mars bars, Snickers bars, Galaxy and Maltesers will be suitable for vegetarians in the near future.

Meanwhile we are currently experiencing unusually high volumes of contacts from our consumers and therefore we hope that you understand that, rather than answer your question individually, we are attaching a list of questions and answers we believe would be useful and help answer your enquiry.

Alternatively you can visit our web site (www.masterfoodsconsumercare.co.uk) for this, and other useful information.

Once again thank you for taking the time to contact us. Please do get back in touch, at the dedicated email address below, if your specific query has not been answered and we will do our best to get a speedy response to you.

Yours faithfully

On Behalf of Fiona Dawson
Mars UK
fionadawson@masterfoods.co.uk

Q1.What are you announcing?

A1.We have recently changed the source of some of the whey which is used in our chocolate products made in the UK from a vegetarian friendly variety to one which contains traces of traditional rennet from animal sources. We have received lots of feedback from consumers and reversed this decision.

Q2.Are you reverting to vegetarian recipes for all of those products that were subject to the ingredient change?

A2.Yes, this announcement means that favourite products - Mars bars, Snickers bars, Galaxy, and Maltesers will once again be suitable for vegetarians.

Q3.You make lots of other brands - what about the suitability of them?

A3.Other products will also be suitable for vegetarians including Minstrels, Revels, and Ripple. However, Twix, Bounty and Celebrations will continue not to be suitable for vegetarians.

Q4.I'm a vegetarian - which products can I eat / should I avoid?

A4.Currently we cannot guarantee that our products contain vegetarian rennet. However, we are starting to change our manufacturing process with immediate effect. We want to get our vegetarian products on the shelves as soon as possible. During this process of changing the recipes we will provide updates on this consumer care website, on a regular basis. If you are not sure about the suitability of our products please call us on 0845 0450042.

Q5.Why did you decide to change the ingredients in the first place?

A5.We made the change to broaden our supply base in order to ensure we could continue to provide our consumers with products of consistent quality in the future.

Q6.Will you now consult with consumers on any future changes to products?

A6.Yes. This change was a mistake and we are sorry that we may have prevented consumers from enjoying the products they've always enjoyed.

Sheep

South Island

The last weekend in April, Judith and I headed across the Cook Strait to Picton in the South Island - my first time on what used to be known as 'the mainland'. The weather did not cooperate on the first day, when it rained A LOT, so we headed to Blenheim and some wineries. This is the heart of Marlborough wine country. We both learned a fair bit about wine and had a great lunch at Hunters restaurant (the food was delicious, although the service was a bit sketchy!).

Vineyards turning Autumn colours near Cloudy bay in Marlborough. We may have been a bit lost at this point!

At the Montana Vineyard.

On the second day the sun came out and we took a boat trip around the Queen Charlotte Sounds.

Pulling out of Picton.

The Interislander ferry across the harbour
.
Sailing around the Queen Charlotte Sounds....

Looking at dense bush like this in a very sparsely populated area, it was hard not to imagine that no one had ever set foot on this particular bit of the shore. And possibly no one ever has!


The general spookiness doesn't quite come across in the photos, unfortunately...





We then caught the Interislander ferry back in the afternoon, which proved the sunniest weather we'd seen. We stood out on the deck facing back towards the South Island and also observing some sheep, presumably on their way to slaughter. See next post for Sheep pics!

Wellington In February...

....looking a lot like Wellington in December and January. This is the Botanical gardens again, righ tin the centre of the city.

Hot Fuzz!

Back whenever it was (March?) we went to the NZ premiere of Hot Fuzz! THis is a pictue taken inthe queue as The Stars arrived. It was introduced by Peter Jackson and the films stars/director - Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright (see v. blurry photo below). Which was all really quite exciting!


(This was quite near towhere we were sitting, despite the blurriness of the photo, honest!)

Mike and Joshie do Wellington

Mike and Joshie ride the Wellington Cable Car.

Joshie plays with Thomas The Tank Engine toys.


Judith does a Mona Lisa impression!


Mike and Joshie meet up with Katy (his and Judith's cousin) and her son, Bruno (the blur of activity on Mike's knee!).

Okay!

So there's been a bit of a blog black-out in effect recently. For a while there I was in the blogzone, but... well, I don't know what, really. Still, I'm back! (If you're reading this months after it was posted and it's still the most recent post, feel free to chuckle to yourself at this point).

First, some more recent pictures from when Judith's brother, Michael, and his son, Joshie, visited us from Japan back at the end of February. This was the first time we had met Joshie, just before his third birthday.