Posts by Tom Beard

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  • Hard News: The Bottom is a Magic Place,

    The implication being that the person at fault here, the person who has created this conviction, is in fact the mother of the child.

    A more charitable reading might be that she took the picture because it was an extreme example of something that the husband was known to be capable of, and that if the assault had been an isolated incident in a happy family then she wouldn't have gone out of the way to capture and pass on evidence. Of course, the use of the phrase "having a few difficulties" does seem to trivialise it and imply that the incident was being used as a weapon between the adults, but my interpretation of the fact that she resorted to photography was that it indicates a history of violence from the father.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Bottom is a Magic Place,

    It certainly wasn't Goebbels.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Bottom is a Magic Place,

    There's a whole fascicle of 17-year-olds who will be voting next year that were barely born when Geoff had his 15 minutes of fame as PM.

    Someone should write a book about the achievements during his term as PM. Or at least a small fascicle.

    Actually, that's the meaning that I'd come across before, specifically in relation to Emily Dickinson's poems. And I think the original "bundle" meaning has something to do with the Latin root from which the Fascists took their name.

    You know who else had fascicles?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Bottom is a Magic Place,

    I do seriously think that fascicle could be a contender though....

    Pity it's already a word.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Bottom is a Magic Place,

    Fun with quotes:

    My gran said not to sleep with "married" men.
    My gran said not to sleep with married "men".
    My gran said "not" to sleep with married men.
    My "gran" said not to sleep with married men.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Bottom is a Magic Place,

    This helps explain Bob McCoskrie's attempt to ban the words "wanker" and "ass". Doing so would seriously limit our ability to write about him and his cronies.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Cracker: Mo' Wellington,

    I'd tend towards a Clark Gable, David Niven or Errol Flynn myself.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Cracker: Mo' Wellington,

    I'm just disappointed by the ubiquity of the "handlebar"/porno-tache/Zapata styles, when there are so many others to choose from. I guess it's one way for the follicularly-challenged to look properly hirsute without actually growing much.

    Oh, and I'm told that you were on the shortlist for another category, "Best Public Art", but that was a result of a couple of tragic typos :-)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Hard News: Meet the New Bob,

    ACT had some guy in a van driving around doing this during the last election ... I'm not sure how effective this would be in New Zealand though, its more likely to alienate voters than persuade them.

    Ask John McGrath, who drove around Wellington for days blasting out silly songs and "vote for me" slogans, and all he got was 7th place and a nomination for Supervillain of the year.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Hard News: Looking for Monsters,

    There was a man in the pool in a suit and tie

    It wasn't John Campbell, was it? Thinking back to A Queen's Tour.

    I had a similar experience in the presence of Mark Rothko's paitings for the Four Seasons, now in their own room at the Tate Modern. It was a moving and contemplative experience for a Sunday morning, and I had the room to myself for most of the time.

    I've had the same experience, and the sense of blossoming as one's eyes adjust to the dark is quite breathtaking. It's what prompted me to reply to one of my UK colleagues when he asked whether I was missing NZ and it's "wonderful lifestyle": "In NZ, I can't walk across the bridge in my lunch break and sit in a room full of Rothko's". I do get sick of the idea that "lifestyle" equates to running around in the bush and jumping off things: for many of us, the chance to live in a great world city isn't just a chance to save up some cash while gritting our teeth and dreaming of summers at the bach; it's an end in itself.

    On a slight tangent, does anyone have any opinions on whether the Wellington City Gallery's lighting treatment of the recent Bill Hammond paintings is brilliantly complementary or just plain tacky? I can't quite decide myself.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

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