Ghost Hunters International Visits Larnach Castle

Thanks, Deb, for pointing out this episode of Ghost Hunters International to me!  There is footage from the ballroom... the same one that we spent the night in last month for the Highland Gala Ball.

My First Mihi Whakatau and Other Glimpses Into Maori Culture

The Public Health Association of New Zealand opened the annual conference on 4 September 2012 with Mihi Whakatau (a formal welcome).   To begin, Manuhiri (visitors) were invited into a lecture theater.  After we were all seated the Tangata Whenua (people of the land - marae representatives) went to the front.  The Kaumatua (elder) said a karakia (prayer) and mihi (greeting speech).  The Tangata Whenua then did a waiata tautoko (song of support) for his speech.  A male representative for the visitors responded with a mihi.  Here's a video of the waiata to support him:

The protocol for the Mihi Whakatau allow Tangata Whenua and Manuhiri to merge as one and become the Whanau (family) for the conference.  I think it was great to incorporate the Mihi Whakatau into the conference.  I had no idea what was going on for the hour or so that the Mihi Whakatau went on, but I enjoyed the experience nonetheless and liked the idea of us merging as one.

That wasn't the last of the singing, though.   Children came and sang for us on a few occasions.  During this song the whole audience got involved:

I'll post more about what I learned at the conference from the presentations I attended later on.  In the mean time, here's one last video of the children to tide you over: 

ACT for Body Image Dissatisfaction

I'm not sure what people will think of this, but I thought I'd share a book that I found when I was literature searching in Google Scholar. At some point, I'll sit down and look through it. I'm hoping to find a protocol for weight management that I can adapt for an online intervention. This looked promising.