Cracker: Psst... buddy... got any BZP?
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"Which is just like real fame, only without the recognition, money, or sex"
Story of blogging really...
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Rik,
Stephen - strangely enough I picked this bottle up for the same price in NZD that I had seen it advertised in the UK as GBP (ie. for about 1/3 of the price) so I am not complaining. I don't know how Michael Fraser Milne from Whisky Galore does it but he must have some good contacts. I was going to buy another but he appears to have run out... :(
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Whiskey did you say? Or was that whisky? Either way, far better than pills any day. Working my way through a 27 year old Port Ellen from Douglas Laing at the moment, a bit pricey but what better way to celebrate the arrival of your first baby boy?! The day Labour bans whisky is the day I will have to make a stand.
Those Douglas Laing bottlings can be pretty good, huh?
It's a shame I've become such a snob that I look at even the broadest offerings in duty free and think either "boring" or "can't afford it, and probably overpriced". No private bottlings there.
But I did pick up an 18yo Talisker at Singapore airport, which I'd never seen before - only $77 for 750ml. It's smoother than the 10yo, but not a patch on the Adelphi 'Breath of the Isles' bottling that Whisky Galore has/had. Mind you, it only costs half as much ...
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Well, it was your 'they' (They don't want us to get high), so I assume you mean Anderton etc, and yes, that particular 'they' do not want to ban alcohol. And yes again, someone asked Them.
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I never said They did. I said that They recognise it's too late to do anything about it, which I guess does pre-suppose the fact that if it wasn't, they would. But do you really think that if alcohol was introduced today, rather than arriving with the white man, it would get past Jim's eagle eyes?
Jim's certainly shown he's keen to up the tax on liquor favoured by minors even if it also hurts the oldies who like sherry; and as you pointed out above, the Govt has made all sorts of moves with regards to cigarettes - not prohibition, no - so in both those regards They are suggesting They know far better than you what's good for you.
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All true.
"do you really think that if alcohol was introduced today, rather than arriving with the white man, it would get past Jim's eagle eyes?"
No, not for one second. And I would be running the exactly the same argument. It is about Jim's subjective morality, and if it arrived yesterday, then I am sure Jim would think it immoral thus requiring the criminal law.And that is the problem. 'Subjectively immoral' does not equal 'requiring the criminal sanction'.
"so in both those regards They are suggesting They know far better than you what's good for you"
Bingo, that is exactly what he/they are doing. And, it can be justified regarding regulation yet cannot be justified regarding criminalisation. There is a massive difference.
The criminal law must be a tool of last resort. Here it has been used as a tool of first resort. With that we lose control, regulation, education, and information. It creates whole swags of people who blatently disrespect the law, and fosters mistrust authority. It undermines efforts to learn and to educate. It drives people into other substances that we know sweet fuck all about. It takes a whole bunch of good kiwis and labels them criminals, with all the associated sanctions and stigma. It costs so much more in so many ways. It creates a whole new waste of time for our bulging Police force. It puts further stress on courts and corrections etc etc etc. All for what??????
All for a reduction in the use of what is by all accounts a benign substance relative to others, with the likelihood that any reduction will be offset by an increase in God knows what other substances, as you rightly point out.
What a mess. BZP was screaming out to be regulated. Today is a good day for organised crime, as people will still get high.
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Is Brad Butterworth, blessed gentle flower that he is, an Aucklander by any chance?
Lol, fair question.
Actually, he was born in that yachting hot-spot of Te Awamutu.
BTW, Te Awamutu boxes well above its weight in terms of famous NZers born there; not sure why. -
Nice article, Damian, and I understand it's a kind of riposte. Me, I love Wellington. Off on a tiki tour of the lower North Island on Monday, with an eye to being in Welly by Wednesday to see a school friend not seen for at least 24 years. Should I pack my thermals? (For the Wellington weather, I hasten to add, not the friend)
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Should I pack my thermals?
Yup!
Probably best to pick up a few more on the way down too :)
Having said that, don't forget Wellington at this time of the year is very much an indoors kind of place.
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Oh, no - I'll be out exploring the places I love so much, and haven't seen properly for so long. Makara Beach, Karori (my friend and I are hoping that Johnson's Hill has undergone the "gotten smaller as we've got older" thing), the Wainui hills, Lower Hutt, Tinakori Rd, the bush.........I went to school at Marsden so we'll be poking around up there too.
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Should I pack my thermals?
Jeans and t-shirt weather.
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The difference between Auckland and Wellington is that not only is it much smaller, but everyone walks everywhere, whereas Aucklanders generally drive.
Ha! Sometimes I walk to work. It's 4km along major suburban and city roads. I rarely meet anyone I know along the way, but I've often been tooted at by friends or had people say, "Hey, I saw you walking along Symonds Street as I was driving home."
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This has been bugging me since Page One and I can't take it anymore. Can someone please change the heading to it's correct title of
"Cracker: Psst... buddy... got any BZP?"
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Ha! Sometimes I walk to work. It's 4km along major suburban and city roads. I rarely meet anyone I know along the way
Heh. So few people walk in Orkland, I used to smoke a spliff walking down Upper Queen St every day on the way home from work. Orkland is LA with rain.
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The difference between Auckland and Wellington is that not only is it much smaller, but everyone walks everywhere, whereas Aucklanders generally drive.
Currently living in Mt Vic, I've managed not to use my car for the last 2 weeks.
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Cantabs have the best public transport on Australasia (OZ & NZ).
Although there is still alot of work to be done on cycle ways & not ones for lycra clad w@nk$rs but cyclists!
Best buzz has to be Whisk-E-y - not that dodgey 10/12yr old stuff either but a good Jamesons.
Was there Rugby on tonite? I must missed it. -
Christchurch beats out Melbourne for public transport? I don't know, I kind of like their tram/train/bus system - and I can't stress enough how much I enjoy single ticket systems - like in London.
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This has been bugging me since Page One and I can't take it anymore. Can someone please change the heading to it's correct title
Yeah sorry that was my bad. Typo in the original blog post, and when I corrected that, it didn't correct the System title. I've been rummaging around out the back, but I can't seem to find the thingamyjig to get it right.
(But maybe you should just take a few deep breaths, it's probably not the end of the world :)
The weather in Wellington has turned from farking cold Southerly to very rainy Northerly in the last day. Oh the joy of winter. Still, it meant a nice Sunday spent with a fire and blankies drinking at the Southern Cross. As I said in that Metro piece, Wellington does do the hunkering down in bars thing particularly well.
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Oh! SO now you're implying we're all alcoholics!
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Oh! SO now you're implying we're all alcoholics!
I don't think it was implied at all, was it? It was fairly explicit, especially in the printed version. Wellingtonians. Are. A. Bunch. Of. Pissheads.
Actually, Jackie just reminded me of ANOTHER of my favourite things about living in Wellington. Marsden Girls.
(For the sake of clarity and avoiding the DIA seizing my hard-drive, I should point out I'm talking about girls that used to go to Marsden, and are now my age, or at least an acceptable standard deviation or two thereof. Not girls who are still at Marsden.)
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don't think it was implied at all, was it? It was fairly explicit, especially in the printed version. Wellingtonians. Are. A. Bunch. Of. Pissheads.
This is true. I always drink more than I should when I visit Wellington, and I refuse to accept any fault in the matter,.
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This is true. I always drink more than I should when I visit Wellington, and I refuse to accept any fault in the matter,
That IS true, I have seen the photos of pineapples.
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That IS true, I have seen the photos of pineapples.
It's always the fruit that suffer the most.
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The head of the National Addiction Centre - one of the select few who make up the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs - did not actually attend their meeting in Welly last November that resulted in the recommendation to ban BZP.
Instead he was at an A&oD workers national training day seminar in Christchurch - also attending was the Chch A&E Dr Gee who lobbied so hard against BZP - where we were told the NAC's research showed there was a (relatively very low) 2% risk of dependence for BZP.
This seminar was also where the first report in SI of IV use of BZP surfaced. I was sitting beside the Needle Exchange people and it was definately news to them, so I daresay not at all widespread.
There was also a very funny 'blind' exercise with all the A&D workers that showed well over half of them, based on listed side effects, would ban peanuts. At least they had the grace to look sheepish. I was sitting in front of Dr Gee. He had nothing to say and left early.
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I might be channelling some latent Presbyterianism (or tiny wee bit under a cloud) but ban BZP, peanuts & Silver Birch while we're at it.
Peanuts are really dangerous for some it's like Kriptonite. So too Silver Birch - burn it.I was told CHCH is known as Needle City - not a shock at my old office, just off Manchester St, you had to look where you stepped because of all the bloody needles & used condoms. Never mind the 6 murders in 6 months after prostitution was legalised.
Getting to work early (so I'm told) or leaving late sometimes got a knock on the window or your carpark was taken up by a shagin wagon.
Christchurch is becoming more & more English every day.
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