Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Grateful for 'Rain'

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  • Mikaere Curtis,

    The aspect of the modern "bach" that I find most striking is that they have lost any respect for their environment. There hardly seems to be any attempt to fit in, other than to maximise sea views.

    There seems to be a lack of context, but perhaps spartan != contextual, or is that merely a cultural artifact from a more modest era ?

    Still, nothings going to stop me giving my villa a thorough schoolin' when the time (and money) comes. Not open-plan though - can't stand the classical L shaped kitchen-dining-living-with-indoor-outdoor-flow-to-the-patio. Villas have zones and work better if you use them.

    Big ups to Craig for doing what Ed wanted - that people carry on his life's work - an actually ponying up for the Himalayan Trust.

    I've trekked in the Khumbu (Everest region), and in 2006 attended the 40th anniversary of the opening of the hospital at Khunde. Ed changed the lives of entire villages, it's as simple as that.

    One of the kids how attended the school in the 60s (a three hour walk each way from his home), and is now the head doctor at the hospital. How cool is that ?

    So when I hear all these suggestions for renaming mountains, having a holiday, raising a statue etc I can't but think: "he had a plan, it worked, still works, wants us to keep it going...FFS, let's just do what he wants"

    Tamaki Makaurau • Since Nov 2006 • 528 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    If so, I would like to pose beneath them in my choice of beach attire - Speedos. I don't care who thinks they look like undies

    Damn right too. If you've got a body that doesn't turn a pair of budgie smugglers into a breech of multiple UN Conventions you can work those speedos wherever, whenever. :)

    Do you pass these words of wisdom on to strangers coming out of funerals as well? Would get an even better reception there.

    I don't hang around funeral homes or even attend funerals I've not been invited to attend, and I certainly don't plan to be harassing Lady Hillary or anyone else outside Saint Mary's, Parnell, on Tuesday morning. Don't be so bleeding precious, Kyle. And if I've been trying to repress anyone else's expression -- or coerce anyone to pay the slightest heed to anything I write or say on any subject whatsoever -- , I've done a seriously suck job of it. Bugger.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Snowy,

    "hardly seems to be any attempt to fit in"

    Well you can't really have an ostentatious display of wealth and fit in now can you?

    Wellington • Since Jan 2008 • 62 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    There seems to be a lack of context, perhaps spartan != contextual, or is that merely a cultural artifact from a more modest era ?

    That sounds like a fashion crime all right. Where are my budgie smugglers?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Snowy,

    I'd say the commenter/lurker ratio shows you've done an excellent job Craig, don't be so harsh on yourself.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2008 • 62 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    If you've got a body that doesn't turn a pair of budgie smugglers into a breech of multiple UN Conventions...

    The kind of body that annexes your seat on a plane? Not as yet. It's more the kind that solidly asserts that the armrest only looks like neutral territory.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Whaleoil,

    Well, well, well Russell and his little band of worshipers have seen fit to defame, slander and lie to fit a story to the facts. Here's some gods honest truth for you. You won't recognise it because you all believe lies. Russell even repeats them, something he will just have to deal with.

    1. I did not nor did anyone else associated with me "stalk" John Minto.
    2. I did not nor did anyone else associated with me take photos of his house.
    3. I did not utter any lies or untruths, all information provided in the post is factual and publically available including the photo. Yes including the photo.
    4. Russell is a class A hypocrite, not only does he creepily draw everyones attention to my own address, he then wails because I posted a photo, note a photo, not an address of the house of a public figure.
    5. I have never posted a picture of gay porn anywhere, to say so is a lie and defamation. Don't believe me ask James Sleep, if he lies I'll publish his email admitting this to me.

    Russell is supposed to be an icon of the "blogs", he has awards for gods sake, yet he actually practices worse internet etiquette than me. At least I don't print lies.

    Since Jan 2008 • 9 posts Report

  • Stephen Judd,

    Apropos the aesthetics of the modern "bach": it's a progression that seems unstoppable. Whangapoua is turning into Whangmata, Whangamata into Mt Maunganui, Mt Maunganui into Takapuna.

    Wherever you are, there are some people who think that once we've cut down those trees we'll have a nice view of the beach.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Thanks to PA, I could do that Mr Slater. Just sayin'.

    Thanks to the information in the domain name system, really. To be honest I just posted it in as a whois output during a pitstop at an internet cafe, and I didn't even notice that it was a home address and ph no.

    I've removed that information from the posts. I guess it's up to him to remove it from the public record if he wants.

    I do promise not to go to his street and secretly photograph his family home so I can write a deranged post assailing him as "scum", etc. Can't say fairer than that.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Whaleoil,

    Keep repeating the lie Russell, keep repeating it, just makes it that much easier for me.

    Since Jan 2008 • 9 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Well, well, well Russell and his little band of worshipers have seen fit to defame, slander and lie to fit a story to the facts.

    Cameron, I'd respect you more if you didn't roll around playing the victim every time you're called on one of your bizarre outbursts.

    4. Russell is a class A hypocrite, not only does he creepily draw everyones attention to my own address, he then wails because I posted a photo, note a photo, not an address of the house of a public figure.

    As I've explained above, my intention wasn't to draw attention to your address and I've removed that from the post(s) in question. My apologies.

    Perhaps you could now have a wee think about the vicious invective you packed into your silly post about Minto.

    5. I have never posted a picture of gay porn anywhere, to say so is a lie and defamation. Don't believe me ask James Sleep, if he lies I'll publish his email admitting this to me.

    Cameron, I've seen the photo. It was a very, very weird thing to do to a 15 year-old boy, and your continuing duel with him isn't really any better. But I wouldn't expect you to recognise that.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Che Tibby,

    Wherever you are, there are some people who think that once we've cut down those trees we'll have a nice view of the beach.

    well, from my place you'd have to raze the michael fowler centre.

    i'm sure that's a compromise everyone can livw with.

    ps. cameron, you're an idiot.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report

  • Whaleoil,

    Wow an apology from Russell, let me frame it....still carrying on with the lie about taking photos of peoples houses. If your defence is "public record" then so is mine. As that is where we got the photo from, the public record.....but hey keep repeating the lie...standard socialist dogma and tactic.

    Since Jan 2008 • 9 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Don't be so bleeding precious, Kyle. And if I've been trying to repress anyone else's expression

    Just thought the comment:

    Please feel free to deck yourself in sackcloth and ashes and you feel fit

    was pretty unnecessary. Some topics don't really call for snark. "Oh look, person felling sad over death of people that they respected, and had opportunity to meet. Wait, I need to tell them that my way of grieving is more appropriate than theirs, while putting down their way of grieving."

    Surely these are days for more compassion than you typically show Craig?

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    And I must say, this all reminds me not to engage with these people at all. The discussion of the topic on another blog has drawn a couple of really disturbing efforts from dad4justice, including his promise to "see and have a talk" with me some day. Not if I see him first ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Whaleoil,

    An idiot I may be but you guys are still writing about me. So who is the idiot now.

    Since Jan 2008 • 9 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Wow an apology from Russell, let me frame it....still carrying on with the lie about taking photos of peoples houses. If your defence is "public record" then so is mine. As that is where we got the photo from, the public record.....but hey keep repeating the lie...standard socialist dogma and tactic.

    Alright, so you didn't take the photo of the house, merely published it along with a nasty (and illogical) attack on the "scum" occupant.

    Again, I invite you to examine your own aggressive and extreme behaviour. Over and out.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    An idiot I may be but you guys are still writing about me. So who is the idiot now.

    I don't know you or your blog or whatever you've posted, and don't care.

    But that's a stupid thing to say. "Hey look, a bunch of people are calling me stupid. Man, they must all be dumb!".

    Ignoring the possibility they could just be, y'know. Right.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Peter Darlington,

    I will do Dusty at your next event for a modest fee. :)

    Dusty rocks! And no, that's not another reference to John Key's holiday pad.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Cameron:

    If you'll stop hyperventilating for a moment, I'll actually take you at your word. But take some fucking responsibility for what you publish --exactly the same kind of accountability I'd expect Ruusell to man up and accept as the owner/publisher of Public Address. Hell, I'm also legally and ethically responsible for every word I say on PA Radio or blog over on High Windows. And so I should be.

    You want some straight talk: That post was lame to begin with, and publishing that photo was fucking stupid.. So what if it was 'publically available'?. If I started digging, you might be unpleasantly surprised how much personal information I can obtain on you perfectly legally from legitimately accessible sources. Just because something is legal (or at least exists in a grey area) doesn't make it ethical or even decent to publish it. Or to put it in more general terms: Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report

  • Tom Semmens,

    John Key's bach has got everyone going because its an absolute stereotype of the holiday home of the ugly and gauche Aucklander. At first glance it looks like a graceless monument to ostenation plonked down without regard to place and devoid of any sense of context.

    And just to complete the mental image, its newly moved in owner immediately starts demanding that the locals have to stop making a living so he can go for a swim. The political subtext of all this - especially given Key's careful cultivation of his supposed rags to riches life and his views on state housing in his Helensville electorate - should be obvious.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report

  • The Other Andrew Smith,

    What disturbs me about Mr. Slater's blog posting is that it suggests to me that Minto paid half a million dollars for a rather ordinary green wooden villa with a skylight in the roof. Ouch! That's a reminder why I don't want to live in Auckland.

    Dunedin • Since Apr 2007 • 10 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    What disturbs me about Mr. Slater's blog posting is that it suggests to me that Minto paid half a million dollars for a rather ordinary green wooden villa with a skylight in the roof. Ouch! That's a reminder why I don't want to live in Auckland.

    More than half of all house sales in Auckland last year were for over half a million. Living in a half-mill house here does not make you a tycoon.

    And a 634m section is not an "estate" either ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Danielle,

    Some topics don't really call for snark.

    Oh, it's practically Pavlovian at this point, Kyle.

    1. Person expresses any kind of emotional sentiment.
    2. Craig appears, in contrary mode. Is usually guaranteed to use a combination of any/all of these words or phrases: 'with all due respect', 'cant', 'excuse me if I don't...', or 'hypocrisy'.
    [3. ????
    4. Profit!]

    (This is in the 'gentle joshing' end of the spectrum, Craig, in case my tone isn't clear. I find you very entertaining.)

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report

  • BenWilson,

    Tom, that really is a first glance mental image all round. It may be a beautiful pad and a crap photo. And you'll be laughing on the other side of your hand if someone gets mauled by a shark there and it actually does have something to do with crabbing.

    I'm not saying it is a beautiful pad. I don't really know, and I think no one else who is commenting here does either. If they do, perhaps they could give us some more shots. I don't know how saying it's plonked down without any sense of context can be maintained in absence of any context. Maybe it's totally surrounded by ostentatious gauche Aucklanders.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

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