Posts by Tom Beard
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If my memory serves me, there was a school in Bethlehem, Tauranga, in the mid 90s that banned 'Bad Jelly the Witch' because it had a witch in it. Or was it just that they censored it?
Good Jelly the Nun? No, wait, that's another banned title I'm thinking of.
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when I was at high school we got our sex ed in secret so at least some of it wouldn't be after the horse had bolted.
There were horses involved?! You must have gone to a far more liberal school than I.
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Lots of people need that information before they are sixteen regardless of the letter of the law and everyone should have that information before they actually need it so, yes it is disturbing.
I agree. Otherwise, one could make an argument for banning representations of cars, driving or road safety messages for those under 15. Just because you can't legally do something yet, doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to learn about it.
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And boy are they... something...
You can see why he was called the Wickedest Man in the World. Truly, truly awful, and that should be enough reason to ban them. Though if bad writing were the trigger for bookburning, then the collected works of Dan Brown would be making a huge contribution towards global warming.
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I had no idea that Justine and Juliette were still officially banned in NZ! I wonder whether that would extend to versions such as Guido Crepax's graphic novels.
And on the (formerly) banned books theme, I just started reading "Lady Chatterly's Lover" for the first time yesterday. I'm waiting for Mellors to turn up so we can get something less coy than "love connexion" and "crisis".
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Well, banning "Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture" really worked, didn't it?
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My main beef with 'Quarter' is not that it's unoriginal or pretentious, but that (in Wellington's case) rather than being preexisting common usage of the inhabitants, it was entirely a product of marketing types wanting something to write on silly signs
I'm not sure there's much in the way of physical signs associated with the "quarters" concept, and apart from a few wayfinding signs there's nothing like a "Welcome to Chinatown" arch. WellingtonNZ.com doesn't seem to push the concept as much as it did when I wrote about it three years ago, but it's interesting that it seems to have rubbed off (a bit) on Russell!
In pretty much every city, tourist agencies, guidebooks, business organisations and real estate agents try to colour in the blocks in the city maps to help visitors find their way. That often ends up in arbitrary distinctions, because unless there are actual ghettoes, the various aspects of a city's character overlap and flow across one another. But it's just a shorthand to help you know that if you're after vintage clothes, don't go to Lambton Quay; and if you're after nightclubs, don't go to Thorndon.
Bureaucrat Quarter
That'll be the Capital Centre.
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"the heart of the Cuba quadrant"
Oh puh-lease... when I last lived in WN the council were trying to pretend it was Paris (Left Bank anyone?) with their "Lambton Quarter" "Cuba Quarter" signs etc... and now they want us to believe it's Westminster?
AFAIK, there's been no use of the word "quadrant" in any official Wellington tourism marketing, so it might just be Russell's coinage. Plenty of cities have quarters, not just Paris, so it's not necessarily a sign of fawning Francophilia.
Yeah, Left Bank of what? Even with rain like today and the Bucket Fountain going full bore, Cuba St is hardly the Seine.
It might be a stretch, but up until the late 19th Century the Waimapihi Stream ran down this part of Cuba St, with a bridge at Ghuznee St. So, Left Bank is indeed on what would have been the left bank of that stream.
Even if that seems like "pretension" (and it's hardly the first place in NZ to be named after somewhere in Europe) it's private land rather than a public street, so the name can't be blamed on the evil consumerist minions of the tourist agencies. Besides, Left Bank is one of the least pretentious places in Wellington, and is probably more Cuba St than Cuba St itself these days.
So, what would you call this part of town? Just "Cuba Street" is too limited, since the adjoining streets share some of its qualities, and indeed the new Quilters is in Ghuznee St. The "Cuba District" might work, though "district" has a specific administrative meaning in some countries that doesn't apply here. "The Cuba Area"? "The bits around Cuba Street"? "Cubatown"? "Cuba Precinct"? Just plain "Cuba"?
In a rapidly evolving city, there hasn't been time for a fine-grained terminology of urban neighbourhoods to evolve organically. Officially, "Te Aro" covers everywhere from Willis St to Kent Tce, but there are some problems with that designation.
First, it refers to a physical geographic feature (Te Aro flat) rather than an urban entity. Secondly, it's far too broad-brushed, and the range of land-use, demographics, built form and character across the area is huge. Distinct "sub-areas" have evolved within Te Aro (I'd expect something different of a bar depending upon whether it was near Cuba St or Courtenay Pl, for example), and if businesses want to pick up upon those distinctions to help visitors find their way to them, then I say go for it.
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It's like going out to a restaurant and being served pan-fried kitten followed by a dessert of hundreds and thousands.
Damn, now you've made me hungry!
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The high-density, ghetto nature of North Dunedin is exactly what gives the city its charm as a University town. No need for cars, you know 100 people within a block, never far to walk home etc...
Quite. For me, density will usually have more positives than negatives, and I'm all in favour of the extra vitality and variety that a whole lot of people can bring to a neighbourhood. But anyone who's read Jane Jacobs will know that density also requires mixed use, and IIRC North Dunedin didn't have much back in the day other than flats and a 24-hour dairy. Has that changed? Or has the density increased without introducing other amenities and activities?