either way the joke about picking you favouite kid did not seem to go down too well around me, the woman across from me complained to the air hostess who just…

SECURITY MESSAGE
Pacific Blue takes jokes about safety and security seriously. Federal legislation provides significant penalties, including fines and imprisonment,
for those persons convicted of making threats against aviation, even…

I still smile at the stock-joke of the Tranz Scenic staff, unchanged for decades....

"while on the observation deck, please keep cameras and all body parts inside the train. Although we're fully trained in first aid, there is only so much we can do with a…

It might also suggest a refreshingly realistic understanding that politicians who write things on tablets of stone have a nasty habit of getting them broken over their heads...

I'd welcome some elaboration of this Craig. If which circumstances changed would there be a shift in the policy?

I'm not one…

I think Key's constant refrain about "in the first term" suggests he's well aware of the limits of his influence; he's not the policy leader of his party, he's the front man – English made that clear.

It might also suggest a refreshingly realistic understanding that politicians who write things…

not the latter, dammit. If there's a National government, I would prefer it to be one where Franks, Lockwood, and Mad Dog McCully are the ones upset with its direction.

I think Key's constant refrain about "in the first term" suggests he's well aware of the limits of his influence;…

no women

no fun

I'm hoping the latter.

not the latter, dammit. If there's a National government, I would prefer it to be one where Franks, Lockwood, and Mad Dog McCully are the ones upset with its direction.

I accept that but technically, the first language Indonesians learn at home as children before they go to school would be their first language

it's quite an interesting thing this one. There have been a few studies of recent that suggest that, in urban Java at least, Bahasa is wiping…

Hmmm…

good point about Lezak. Explains why his name was on the swimcap. duh me.

This is quite cool, in the circumstances:

GEORGIAN, RUSSIAN SHOOTERS EMBRACE

Well, in the circumstances, I think there are part of Georgia where the fewer Olympic-standard marksmen in the neighbourhood the better.

Michael Phelps Michael Phelps Michael Phelps

yeah... but did you see the 400m freestyle relay just now? Overtaking the french at the last metre to take gold, while knocking 4 seconds off the world record they set a few days ago. unbelievable

Ask Lionel Messi if he'd rather have a World Cup and a Champions League trophy medal or an Olympic Gold. No contest

Or ask Ryan Nelson if he’d rather help the All Whites qualify for World Cup against New Caledonia / Fiji, and big note it round China with all…

Brazil looked very routine and New Zealand looked awful! It depresses me the way they can't keep possession for more than two or three passes.

As a mad soccer fan, i actually also agree football shouldn't be at the Olympics and get the horse…

I think the key here is that the figures count native speakers. Many more people speak English but it will be their second third or more language.

I'd argue that in the case of Indonesian it's pretty much a native language. It's almost universally spoken, 99% of the media is…

To paraphrase a poster in an earlier conversation, someone is lying about what National will do after election day. Are they lying to Stephen Franks, or to the electorate?

I'm hoping the latter.

I suspect Franks is willfully blind and hoping he can be a bridge to ACT in the…

[NBC shows] so much beach volleyball it's creepy.

To be fair to NBC, with their on-line coverage, they're showing more hours of Olympic coverage than were shown in the US in all the earlier Olympics combined. I think they're just showing a lot of everything.

I too did notice Sophie Zhang dropped out of the commentary midway but I think her role was to offer comments and insights…

It seems that this is about as close as it gets for a modern airliner

Wikipedia has this to say about the crash.

Many of the passengers who died survived the crash but they had disregarded or did not hear Abate's warning not to inflate their life jackets inside the…

Watching the opening ceremony all I could think of was throwing my hands up and surrendering now. China will rule the planet one day. Possibly in my lifetime.

In Guangzhou an Australian manufacturer I was having a few beers with said..You are looking at the future here, they just need…

Unless they’re not counting Americans. :)

I watched the British version of the opening ceremony, and the commentators did allow themselves some snide commentary on how China...

Watching the opening ceremony all I could think of was throwing my hands up and surrendering now. China will rule the planet one day. Possibly in my lifetime.

from this…

To paraphrase a poster in an earlier conversation, someone is lying about what National will do after election day. Are they lying to Stephen Franks, or to the electorate?

I'm hoping the latter.

[On Quinn]

I was surprised how good his blog has been from the little…

I suspect having to strike such poses is coming at the cost of degree of cognitive dissonance for Franks

I think he overcame that when he became the National Party candidate surely? Once a stalwart and potential leader of Act, now a member of Labour-lite, whatever dissonance much have a…

What, you think London's going to do a wee montage of All the Ways We Have Fucked Up Our Colonies in *their* opening ceremony?

I watched the British version of the opening ceremony, and the commentators did allow themselves some snide commentary on how China totally skipped on portraying the…

Ditchings are rare, but there've been a few.

It seems that this is about as close as it gets for a modern airliner

There is a stunning display of fireworks. Keith Quinn points out that the Chinese invented fireworks (a theme for the Opening Ceremony ie China highlighting it's acheivements over the past 8…

bitching about McBeth and Quinn

Look on the bright side – at least it's not Tony Veitch.

Yes, McBeth and Quinn are silly old bores, but at least they're not obnoxious, braying "celebrities". Also, they both genuinely have a passion and depth of knowledge for sport, unlike Veitch.

Also, while…

How many heats would you have for every individual and team event if every single participating country was entered in everything?

Four rounds (and 42 individual races), if you have eight people in a heat and the top two go through. (Up to 256 countries, so quite a few heats…

...piped in from the Shady Trees Retirement Village for the Bewildered.

But they're not anyway are they...chances are if the plane goes down at an altitude of more than 100 metres you are royally screwed anyway.

Dude. I take enough anti-anxiety medication to get on a plane as it is. Do you want me to become completely comatose or something? :)

Russia has declared war on Georgia. The United States declared war on Iraq but some of us think the Chinese are the real bad guys

I'll try not to troll on this subject, but colonialism is bad whoever does it. Even when it's because the colonised people are sooo much…

You're not going to be of any help at all in the impending aviation disaster, are you?

But they're not anyway are they...chances are if the plane goes down at an altitude of more than 100 metres you are royally screwed anyway.

Has any aircraft ever happily landed in the…

So who are these people who say they really really like Keith and…

In the opening ceremony, did anyone else notice the Japanese team waving both Chinese…

I'm a nervous flyer at the best of times

Pray you're never on a flight with my daughter. On her second every plane flight – the one back from Dunedin to Wellington on a small prop – we hit turbulence, which caused her to announce to the rest of the…

GEORGIAN, RUSSIAN SHOOTERS EMBRACE
Georgia's team offered to quit the Games over the conflict with Russia in South Ossetia. But President Mikheil Saakashvili sent instructions to stay "in the best interests of the country".
In a deliberate show of unity, Georgian shooter…

But now... he's a shell of a man. Same goes for John MacBeth, although I can't get…

Quinn was *awful* at the opening ceremony. I can't count the number of times I yelled 'shut UP, you moron!...'

If he'd've actually opened his (publicly paid-for) programme, rather than keeping it sealed for sports memorabilia purposes, he might not've been quite so ignorant.

We then picked up Emma Hart — who I can reveal now will be joining the Public Address stable full-time

YAY!!!!!

Judi

Jen duly came home with the real star of the show, Bob the Baby. He was a little stern with me until I made farting noises with my hands. Kids love that.

I've been trying to duplicate that farting sound for three days now. It's a lot…

Quinn was *awful* at the opening ceremony. I can't count the number of times I yelled 'shut UP, you moron!

Don't the media get some sort of briefing for what diverse parts of the opening ceremony represents?

If so, Quin obviously didn't bother reading it. Thank goodness they had that…

Reception offered to shift me to the Quality for an extra 60 bucks. I agreed, and the room turned out to be a tasty corner suite with 90-degree views and a verandah.

The Quality is totally P.I.M.P. I stayed there last year and got a great room rate, those lovely…

and as an aside.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV4i7dWeu0c&feature=related

it was time to join The Dropkicks for the recording of their podcast (Episode 30), which traditionally consists of the team drinking heavily and cracking wise.

It's not the podcasting, it's how we're podcasting. Right, Hadyn?

Quinn was *awful* at the opening ceremony. I can't count the number of times I yelled 'shut UP, you moron! You don't have to talk!

Oh yes he does... otherwise people might start asking questions about whether TVNZ has some kind of corporate urinary disorder requiring it to piss away…

While…

I am refusing to watch the Berlin games of our times

So there were tanks at the opening ceremony?? Damn; if I’d known that, I’d have stayed up to watch.

With Montgommery, you get the feeling it’s all about him. Interesting that he’s turned his back on covering the sailing…

That'd be great. Unless there's a revolution in London, I won't be wathing those Olympics, either.

But I trust you'll keep letting us know how much you're not watching it.

And if they have a revolution

Which they won't.

the new government will hopefully either cancel the games

Which won't…

That being said, the whole interactive thing…

True to my word, I am refusing to watch the Berlin games of our times.

Yes, because China is just like Nazi Germany ...

My favourite quote from Peter Montgomery so far- "You can't see the visibility"

But the TV1 crew at the Olympics are all appalling. Too many with…

online bitching about ...... and Quinn

You mustn't mention that word. It's bad luck!

a wee montage of All the Ways We Have Fucked Up Our Colonies in *their* opening ceremony

That'd be great. Unless there's a revolution in London, I won't be wathing those Olympics, either. And if they…

I have a shrewd idea the commentator who called the opening ceremony a militarised Disneyland meeting corporatised communism…