Friday, February 25, 2011

To my friends in Christchurch and Lyttelton Harbour

Christchurch and Lyttelton friends: I know that some of you take a look at this blog occasionally (Google analytics is watching you sleep), so I thought you guys might be interested to know what the underemployed waster community in Auckland is doing to help you out, as far as I am aware.  Just so you know that we've got your backs as far as we're able and that we care about you.

I was heading off to the studio today and I noticed that the old villa by the Grafton bridge has turned into some sort of cafe, the kind where eventually they're going to probably have some noise problems with the neighbours and so on but right now it's early days and everything's peachy.  I don't know whether they're doing a roaring trade or not, but they told me that everything they make this Friday is going straight to earthquake relief.  So you'll get that.

I've got a couple of shows this weekend, and I'd like you guys to know that all of the money I get from CD sales at these shows will go straight to the Red Cross.  An Emerald City have also announced that they'll be giving money from the next few shows on their tour to earthquake relief, and on Sunday at the Wine Cellar and Whammy there's a fund-raising show with an almightly lineup that should hopefully get some money coming your way as well.  People have been busking.  Ms. Millicent Crow is going to give all the money she makes from her felt shop until the end of March to the cause.  Musichype have a thing going on where you give a donation and get a bunch of downloads, and a lot of us have sent them songs to use for that. People without a lot of ready cash are trying to figure out how to raise some to send south.

Friends with bigger houses and less violent pets than ours have been offering accommodation for refugees - we though that maybe our place was too small, but I look on quakeescape.org.nz and see that people down your way are saying things like 'we don't have power or water yet but the roof is still up so come stay in the lounge' and I wonder if we should reconsider that position.  People are collecting food for displaced pets, and blankets, and analogue telephones and all of those sorts of things.  Materially it doesn't amount to very much maybe, but it's all done in the spirit of showing you that you aren't alone here. Mainly we're all trying to find ways to remind you that we care a lot, and we want to do what we can.  We don't know what it's really like down there, but we are thinking of you and we want to help you to get through it, so hang in there.

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