Posts by Tom Beard

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  • Speaker: Good Times on High Street,

    Ah, so many memories. Actually, no: I only lived briefly in Auckland in the mid-90s, and combined with the fact that very few of my circle shared my love for electronic music, that meant that I very rarely made it to The Box. One moment did stand out for me though: a veritable rainstorm of distilled perspiration puring down on the dancefloor as we did our best to dance to Moby's "Thousand". I think I permanently broke something that night.

    A few years later, I was staying with a friend who lived (illegally) in his small office/studio space several floors above The Box (though I'm not sure whether it had become something else by then). It was a distinctively muggy Auckland night, and the venue was hosting an album launch party for Prodigy's "Fat of the Land". I've always made a moral point of not complaining about bar noise when I live in the inner city, but by about 4am I found myself leaning out the window shouting "I know you're the f*cking Firestarter, now shut the f*ck up!"

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Up Front: Are We There Yet?,

    That is consistent with my experience. In fact there was a time in my life when I was a great supporter of Catholicism in young women. The stricter the better.

    The only thing better than a lapsed Catholic is helping one to lapse.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Up Front: Are We There Yet?,

    none of them took the opportunity to link tenants of the faith with the exclusion of gays from Catholic church housing, or some such way of borax-poking cf. tenets of the faith.

    I was so nearly there! Faith: a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to live there.

    But yes, maximum kudos to Tess for being the Christian among the lions. I had no idea that this discussion would run so long and (mostly) productively, simply because I presumed that the general reaction among the PAsphere would be "Yay Emma! Go for it! Now about that gin...". Having another perspective here is invigorating.

    Mind you, I've just about had enough of discussing a repugnant, inhuman and degrading act: committing to a lifelong monogamous relationship. Shudder!

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Up Front: Are We There Yet?,

    So I'm coming around to yes, let's have gay marriage in the churches, by golly.

    I'm coming around to not having churches at all, frankly. My thoughts aren't quite as extreme as Diderot's (who said something along the lines of "Humankind will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"), but sometimes they're not far off.

    I'm pretty sure it's not legal to marry a CD, even if you are an All Black.

    And what if you're AC/DC?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Field Theory: The Super 135,

    I just know that, despite all the good ideas for names, Tauranga will still end up with something dumb like the Steamers...

    I thought they were from Cleveland?

    I'd have though that Tauranga's team might be called The Zimmer Frames or The Tauranga Sprawl. I guess that some cities will have to have several teams representing different suburbs or neighbourhoods. Who's keen to see The Te Aro Macchiatos vs The Karori Pajeros?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Island Life: Symptoms persist,

    Vitamin tablets = expensive urine

    Yes. The only sensible way to increase one's vitamin intake during the winter is to switch from olives to a twist in one's Martini.

    All it needs is a big white line down the middle of the upstream clipon, a couple of accessways by the Curran St on-ramp and the old toll plaza, and some barricades to close the lane off.

    Oh Rich, Rich, would that it were so. Proper urban cycle facilities to encourage a sustainable mode of commuting would be vastly more useful than a rural "Great Rides" cycleway for tourists and weekend shits & giggles, but the latter just requires money to be thrown at it. Your suggestion, while vastly cheaper and to many people much mroe sensible, requires sacrificing a much scarcer resource: road space. Under the previous government, that would have been controversial and politically unpopular with motorists; under this one, it's tantamount to sacrilege.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Island Life: Symptoms persist,

    NZ Pharmacy's main purpose is as a dispensary for free drugs for the government

    No, their main purpose is to sell lots of cosmetics, hair product and cheap sunglasses. Somewhere down the back, most of them have some medicine.

    Speaking of which, has there actually been a ban on over-the-counter pseudoephedrine-based medicine? I'd heard talk of bans in places like Gisborne, but the last time I took cold medicine it did sod all, and it was only then that I noticed that all the codral, sudafed, day & night etc had suddenly become "new formula".

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Up Front: Are We There Yet?,

    All couples need legal protections and access to things like being the next of kin if your partner goes into hospital.

    Is there an option for "next of kith" if you don't have a partner?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Up Front: Are We There Yet?,

    It's easier to rent a house in Tawa when you have a marriage certificate.

    Somehow, I find it hard to see that as an advantage.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Wolfram Alpha: Tech journos FAIL,

    My favourite part of the FAQ is:

    It can only know things that are known

    Damn! And here I was hoping that it would prove the Riemann hypothesis, tell us what happens after death and identify the current location of Lord Lucan. But anyway, no-one tell Donald Rumsfeld.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

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