Introduction

This page will provide you with what would be deemed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about this site, Tarrackin's Home Scroll.

Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions not answered here. Perhaps there might be one you think others' are likely to ask. I can easily add it in.

Thanks, and enjoy THS.

Leon "Junior" Harrison

About Tarrackin's Home Scroll

Tarrackin's Home Scroll has been about in one form or another since 1996. Back in the days when a P75 rocked totally and your 14.4 flew through Cyberspace like a rabbit in Central Otago during Easter.

Just so you know, Tarrackin is this six foot plus giant Germanic warrior who is a primary character, one of several, in my first novel, Trails to Glory. It's a multi-genre science fiction, military based near future epic which has only just begun... That is, the second part is on the way and there is much more work to be done. If you want to know more let me know. That invitation is also made to family and friends. Otherwise feel free to go to my Writer's Page to get an idea of some of the pains involved. If you want to tap into the daily goings-on in the life of the Web Master of THS, head to the Online Journal.

I am a Northland supporter, 'cause I was born in Kawakawa, and my family hail from a small farming community called Okaihau in the Hokianga. No matter where I am in the world, that's the way it is, and always will be. Go the Taniwha!

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Does this site support the war on Terrorism?

THS supports effective and planned actions against all elements of terrorism.  This includes countering the funding of terrorist organisations or preforming such acts under the guise of legitimate government.   So long as actions are about kerbing a real threat, not about revenge, nor about stripping people of their civil liberties, or otherwise restricting their daily lives beyond what is truly necessary for their wellbeing, support is forthcoming.  This, in many cases means effective management of appropriate courses of action.  This means making good use of the wisdom from those who have been down that particular road before.

Remember, terrorism takes many forms, and has been around for centuries.

PLEASE NOTE :

THS will not be forthcoming with any details relating to NZSAS or other current or historical operations which may contravene OPSEC (Operational Security). This includes any other Units featured on THS. Do not ask and you will not be offended when information is not made available. Operators, their families and others concerned do not need to be put at risk for a story.

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What's with the bird?

That bird... happens to be a New Zealand native falcon, the Kararea or scientifically speaking, if you like Latin Falco novaeseelandiae. This falcon, though smaller than your common garden house variety of falcon is totally fearless and quite oblivious to the presence of mankind. They just get on with doing whatever they're doing without worrying about man or beast. Beautiful predators of the sky, the New Zealand Falcon will defend its territory to the death, swopping in on any hapless victim at over 200 kilometres per hour, and tangling with prey over ten times its own size. Highly intelligent, the Kararea is just beginning to be used in Falconry. They are also considered taonga or treasured by some Maori.

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And what's the story with the Swiss Army Knife business?

Well when I was younger MacGyver was my main man on the telly. When we had telly that is. My granddad brought me a Swiss Army Officer's knife for my 14th birthday. I was always proud to say that my knife was bigger than Mac's, but then, he was always able to do some real cool stuff. That knife has only gone into retirement since I got a Swiss Tool a couple of years back...

I've used my Swiss Army Knife just about every day since I had it, even when I came to the big smoke. Highly recommended and a lot more useful than many things people lug about. Also have brought about half a dozen of them for mates' over the years and they've always been delighted at just how handy they are.

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Why is everything so blue?

Well, its the colour of the sky, on a good day. It is the colour of the ocean. It's sometimes indeed how I feel, though considerably less often than years gone by. It is also the primary colour of Northland Rugby Union, which due to my being a sucker for an underdog, and it being my place of birth, I do support. Auckland et. al, please stop nicking our players!

THS has been several other colours and with that there comes a multitude of reasons. To discuss previous colour schemes does add a little more flavour and knowledge to the nature of Tarrackin's Home Scroll and it's owner.

Green is most obvious, with hunting, fishing and being on farms when I was younger it signifies nature, to being in a childhood Rugby Club which doned the black and green - Maheno. When you look through a Night Scope things are a decidely green colour. I spent some time in the New Zealand Army and was one of these odd sorts who did and still does, not detest the concept of wearing green either professionally or casually. Green is also what colour cookies turn if you don't eat them fast enough :) I love cookies. Cookie Time cookies most particularly. They must be eaten before children or other forms of vulture get their mitts on them. Green is best served with a good healthy side dish of browns and yellows and blacks depending upon the terrain upon which one is travelling at any given time. People who know me really well know a few other reasons too.

 

Greens and browns, all told represents nature, the Earth, trees and other plant life. It reminds me of a life once more phyically active and those things mentioned above. It is always good to have something upon which to reflect the world we live in, before we lived in the greyness of modern urban dwelling.

Seems there is a lot to be said for colour... And the grey, that now represents the printed page above all, characters, words, which promote life in all its varied forms. Since writing is my main occupation, as a novelist, a student, a dabbler of poetry, and advocate for Defence, it seems the most appropriate angle for visual representation of what I do and who I am.

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Why did you decide to revamp the site?

Well I was getting sick of the old one. Plus it was too hard on the eyes, I believe, for many people. Also it was way to cluttered, and I wanted to present a much more professional image. And one less gloomy. Also there was the desire to learn these things called Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) which somehow allows your pages to have a universal look and feel throughout the entire given site. Ah, very professional indeed. One hopes anyway. Perhaps a career in this field, while trying to continue writing, will be possible shortly.

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How do I report a broken link?

You can e-mail us. Thanks very much for doing it too. Also if you'd like a link added feel free to do the same and I'll also send a suitable banner for your site, or give you a link to where you can pick one up.

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Why are you so obsessed with guns?

Well, I'm not obsessed with weapons no. Rather I take an avid interest in them and have done so since I was very young. Having an interest and in fact studying and implimenting that knowledge into further endevours in most quarters would be deemed normal in most respects. But due to many often unexplainable factors its not. Having an interest in firearms and the military is much the same as having one in cars, drinking of a variety of beverages, wine tasting for example, doing knitting or being part of the Scouts or the Sally Army. If you haven't given it a go, I'd highly recommend it. There is nothing quite like firing off a few rounds and managing to hit that elusive bullseye.

You soon realise there is a lot more involved in them than just picking one up and yanking on a trigger.

Engineering, ballistics, reloading, trap shooting, black powder, small bore, hunting...

Unfortunately various forces exist which are quite happy to destory these sports in double quick fashion. Personally I think they should concentrate more on drunk drivers or more foul things I could mention but will not. But then, that's just me.

The rifle? It happens to be a example of fine German engineering, a Heckler und Koch G36, the big brother to the G36K (K for Kurtz, German for "short") you see at the bottom of each page on the right. It is the basis for the XM8 which is planned to replace, finally, the M16 and M4 in US service. New Zealand would do well to replace the Austeyr with it, and the British Army the problem-plagued SA80. Yes, even the A2. At least they have adopted the Minimi, giving them a decent LMG. Well overdue.

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What's that crest all about?

That happens to be the Buchanan crest. The tartan is below. This happens to be my Clan tartan on my mother's side of the family. My ancestors' are of warrior stock and one reason why the Roman Empire had Hadrians Wall built. We won by default. The Romans didn't want to scrap anymore *sigh*. So why were the Scottish defeated? They liked fighting so much, when it wasn't the English, or the Romans or whoever else, it was other Clans or their family. My Clan stuck by William Wallace when many others' did not. We were also supporters of Rob Roy McGregor. Both of these fellows have had movies made about them in recent years, and in the staring role neither was a Scotsman it is worthy of note. Also, while we're on it I have a fair amount of German blood, and Portuguese Negro too, running through my veins... and countless other varieties. My English ancestry is made up of Pioneers.

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You're a fan of classic Star Wars - what's the deal with Boba?

So yes, we come to the new series of Star Wars prequels and everything is Jando. The mystic of Boba is gone. But at the same time, a majority audience would see the accent as foreign and thus different, thus cool. Maori work well in the distant galaxies of our vast universe, do they not? Turns out our original famed bounty hunter, most feared in the galaxy, is a wee fella from the Hokianga. Well, I wish. Maybe he played footy for the Horeke Rockets.

Once there was tatted and dented armour, now, not holding to what was once a convincing man of war, we see the father in pristine and shiny metal, no sense of experience.  Rather than a soldier who has spent arduous time in the field, he is traded down for one who has only ever frequented the parade ground.  No trophies adorn his uniform of conflict.  No Wookie scalps to demonstrate his victory over worthy foes. And if Boba is truly a clone of his father, I'll eat my helmet.  Now colour, blue and silver.  Can anybody say 'Lost in Space'? Perhaps it is deemed more PC. And there was I thinking war was the most un-PC thing there was. It's still a reality of the real world. Nature is not a place of balanced colour and smooth lines. Nor is it friendly to those who venture into its wild depths.

It is even more depressing to think of the fine lineage of these films when the new series are riddled with child-like titles. Who on earth had the job of coming up with them?  "Attack of the Clones".  Please...

'Return of the Jedi, 'A New Hope', 'The Empire Strikes Back'... now there are real titles, even for this generation.  Never mind you can't have everything.  I'm just glad that Lord of the Rings graced our cinematic screens, in order to ease the pain. It is sad when such classics have fallen to inferior productions where it has become obviously a thing of money, rather than tradition. Convincing puppet work and real sets are replaced by CGI far too often, and these final installments have become the worst offenders, except on a micro level, if you consider the rat in Daredevil. Has no one heard that there are indeed real rats out there, and these professionals called rat wranglers?

Then you see droids which look so very much like those from Japanese Anime. For those in the creative business, there is a serious lack of imagination going on there. But that's okay, George still made his money, and somehow, it is how he wanted it to be. At least the final film did tie things up nicely. Sadly, that is about the most pleasant thing I can say about it all.

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How do I go about learning this Website design business?

If you have any questions on it feel free to e-mail me but try out searching the Net and have a bit of a go first. There are heaps of resources out there and when you get into it the results are quite satifying.

HTML Primer - from HTML Goodies

HTML Writers Guild

Davesite Webstation

Graphics packages allow you to generate graphics for your site and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) allow you to upload your files to a server to be in place on the Internet. Once you get into it a bit you might be keen for Microsoft Frontpage or Macromedia Dreamweaver. Trial versions of all this software allow you to give it a bit of a go before you buy it which is really good of the software people.

Paint Shop Pro 7.0 - graphics doesn't go a miss, PSP one of the best from Jasc Inc

CuteFTP - neither does an FTP Client, CuteFTP from GobalSCAPE

So yeap, finally the Kiwi Scribbler got this page up. Actually, truth be known, since THS has been up for so long, I probably should have had a FAQ up a few years ago. Slacker eh. Ah, now remedied.

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