The incidental choice of music playing currently amuses me, given the day's events.

Today I went to Hagley Park for Operation Bubbly Kumquat Fizz - a pacifist warfare event to celebrate the Chinese new year. Three factions took part: The KAOS Expeditionary Army (of which I was a part), Alf's Imperial Army, and the Asian Ancestral Army. All told, I think maybe somewhere between 100-150 combatants appeared on the field of honour. The general premise of the battle was the Alfs attempting to keep China British - which, of course, they lost. KAOS forces joined battle originally on the side of the Alfs, but being the traitorous bunch that we are, we eventually set up on the AIA flank and helped the Chinese decimate them.

Memorable parts of the battle for me:
* Being attacked by a soldier who had inexplicably turned into a zombie, and thus becoming a zombie in my own right. Which meant of course my fearless comrades pointed me in the direction of the enemy, allowing me to raven, slay, and eventually have my head "chopped off" and my heart stabbed by a few stout fellows with paper swords.

* Helping to stop an Alf armour charge upon the Asian flank by using the Arthur Dent manoeuvre (i.e. lying down in the path of the vehicle).

* Discovering that I'm inexplicably accurate with indirect-fire water balloons.

* Executing of a traitor using a rotary automatic suction-dart launcher ("remember chaps, wild uncontrollable bursts!").

* Drawing many enemy combatants at once by holding a sword in such a manner as to look as if I really knew how to use one (poses a la Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon).

* English Lion versus Chinese Dragon. And the Chinese dragon biting the head off an enemy officer wearing a Winston Peters mask. [Note for non-New Zealanders: a politician well-known for having unfriendly ideas about our immigration policies. Not quite as bad as Australia's Pauline Hansen, but in the same vein at times.]

We had quite a crowd, due to it being a rather lovely day, being a bunch of people playing silly-buggers in the middle of the city, and having scheduled our battle for shortly after a Summertimes Festival concert of some variety. I also managed to drag along a couple of friends as spectators, who seemed to be fairly well-amused by the goings-on.

After the battle, I headed off to a friend's 21st birthday party, where I was fortunate enough to be able to beg a shower off the lovely host, and make myself somewhat more presentable. I caught up with quite a few people there who I hadn't seen in quite a long time, and some people who I had talked to in the past but had never actually met (teh Intarweb is good like that, no?). All good.

At about 6:30 or so I ducked off from that party to go to a Chinese restaurant - one owned and staffed by our co-combatants, who had generously offered us a free meal in thanks for the afternoon's festivities. I found the food rather delicious indeed, and their iced lemon tea was very nice - I'm not used to a drink having a slightly bitter aftertaste that is still a pleasant one. There were a number of toasts at the dinner - and some eulogies and a minute of silence for one Willie Butler, a member of Alf's Imperial Army who died recently in a climbing accident. Though I never met the man, it is clear that he was well-loved by the troops, and the stories they shared will live on as a memoriam to a man worthy of much respect. It was good to see the venue filled with people enjoying themselves and the company of their co-combatants of whichever faction, and reliving some of the afternoon's events via a television in the corner that displayed stills and video footage. All in all, it seemed like everyone had a very good time, and that's something to be both proud and happy about, in my humble opinion.

After having a discussion with one of our hosts as to what the Chinese characters on their T-shirts meant, I decided I wished to buy one of the ones they had on sale, but their print run was unfortunately only in one size, so they're going to contact me and send me a T-shirt later once they've made them in my size. The restaurant's name means "ancestral place", and the T-shirts have a character changed to mean "ancestral/aboriginal people". They made us feel very welcome and comfortable, and I think it'd be nice to have such a memento. Happy new Year of the Sheep/Goat to you.

After leaving the restaurant I made my way back to the party, which was going in full swing by the time I got there. More people had arrived as dark-time approached, including the ever-lovely lucilu. I finally found the time to make good on the back-fixing that I'd promised her a while ago, and it seemed to have some beneficial effects - though she has serious computer-user/artist shoulders, and will need a more concerted effort in future to work some of the stubborn knots out, I think.

As our hosts were planning to head into town (to clubs which tend to have unfortunately high levels of cigarette smoke, and the like - bad allergy, bad!), four of us took a trip to Denny's, where the food and conversation was quite enjoyable (although a little puzzling at a couple of points). We returned just in time to find the other people finally getting around to leaving, so I said my good-byes to all and sundry and cycled off home.

This has been a good day for me. Doing fun things and having one's friends around can make one feel much more at peace with the world - and if you have to die repeatedly to paper swords, water balloons and the occasional zombie to do so, then so be it.