How far has it gone down the demolition route?

Would love to try and keep it by giving the long term costings ( crap new buildings need $$ repares).

You look really familiar...

Do you, perchance, own, or know someone who owns, a garden gnome?

Is it the Hydo or the Grand in the last couple of camera shots? It's in danger anyways – notice the crows nest – cool.

Well, it's the Hydro Grand. Slowly making its way through the process of being demolished to make way for exactly the kind of tasteful time-share…

I don't have any movember photos at hand. So here is an older photo, from when I had just been released from rehab.

Steven, did you do rehab on Easter Island?

So here is an older photo, from when I had just been released from rehab.

I'd always thought mooning from cars involved the buttocks?!
I'm guessing you would be more hirsute when completely full, or was this a Fllaming Carrot party?

Teh Catz win..

Pfft! We don't need no stinkin' catz. My dog may she R.I.P. is a winner :)

I think you have all become those Tragic Internet People . As you were with ya lil' fluffies

Teh Catz win.. weez awl doomed...

Dodgy as that sounds, I think it's too good to pass up.

Toddles

Too, too cute with you little chubby cheeks.

Is it the Hydo or the Grand in the last couple of camera shots? It's in danger anyways – notice the crows nest – cool.

I quite like the idea of open access CCTV (an oxy – but I'm tired) as opposed to a Police only access thing.

(both kid & giraffe – emphatically NOT the TDC webcam)

Please, please show us the photos, I will show you my movember?

Dodgy as that sounds, I think it's too good to pass up.

Toddles

He had little black wheels, too. And puddling around tonight, I found the Timaru District Council webcam. Look, that's my home town in nearly real…

But why they built it as a loop, and part of a 900m State Highway, I don't know.

the main reason it is a loop i think is to deal with the steep drop from the bluff/hill above down onto the flat at Caroline Bay and wharf area (and I…

(This was most horrific-sounding conference based in ANZ I've *ever* heard of-)

Remember reading many years ago in the "Waiheke Resident" the comment by editor Gordon Ingham that the ink used in Herald editorials was poisonous if applied to the bare skin.

Thought it couldn't be too good for the eyes as well so haven't read one…

I hereby pledge $25 towards ticket and disguise costs for Keith Ng, and challenge others to do the same.

Just what I was thinking. Anyone else?

oh, to be a fly on the tasteful and impeccably finished wall.

I hereby pledge $25 towards ticket and disguise costs for Keith Ng, and challenge others to do the same.

Hey, respect! And here was me thinking that Alan Gibbs started this whole privately owned giraffe thing. You've certainly been pushing back the envelope from an early age.

Wow, the Big Day Out at the Farm, [[http://www.rmastudies.org.nz/big-farm-day-out/|where we discover what Gibbs, Brash and Douglas would do were they dictator for…

oh – a "sub arachnoid haemorrhage" is a real thing – initially I figured you were just pulling (all 8 of) their legs

It surely is a real thing. At least, it is if my father's death certificate is to be believed. You'd be thinking of a sub-arachnid haemorrhage when…

Regarding Timaru: does anyone know whatever happened to the Cock and Pullet? It was a wonderful place to stop.

It changed hands (a couple of ex school teachers set it up) a few years ago and went down hill rapidly

To be fair, Timaru did actually remove all the parking meters from the main street.

Did Luke come to visit?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pV1yHrqXA88

I have a hunch that the reason they don't let you in is you're a giant cock.

i too have always suspected penis envy...

...so does that hunch qualify you for disabled parking ?

LB:

"Would be a far better use of everyone’s time than getting the accountant to dig ditches badly for 200 hours?"

If an accountant is digging ditches I'm sure they can charge people money to sit round watching in deck chairs, with a few beers and recoup the money owing…

"Would be a far better use of everyone’s time than getting the accountant to dig ditches badly for 200 hours?"

If an accountant is digging ditches I'm sure they can charge people money to sit round watching in deck chairs, with a few beers and recoup the money owing…

When I was four I rode down it on Toddles, my giraffe.

Hey, respect! And here was me thinking that Alan Gibbs started this whole privately owned giraffe thing. You've certainly been pushing back the envelope from an early age.

I got curious and had a look on GoogleEarth. Has anybody got any idea why they built that Loop road to nowhere?

Well, it goes to the port. It's the route the sheep trucks take. When I was four I rode down it on Toddles, my giraffe.

The police came…

gettin' all Tiso on yer ass

Beats miso.

LOL Ohh funny

Wellington? :)

No, Italy. For that is where I am originally from.

Steve's story would count as an example of impeccable service where I come from.

Wellington? :)

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/698709

I bet they don't issue fines to motorcyclists in Timaru.

But Wellington is a different matter.

Heat put on motorcycle parking
And Dunedin needs to get its thinking cap on.

To be fair, Timaru did actually remove all the parking meters from the main street.

But did they stop issuing fines for "No parking ticket"?
;-)

To be fair, Timaru did actually remove all the parking meters from the main street.

When you're Timau, you really don't need to put additional impediments in front of people who might be brave enough to stop there ;)

Car parks, Parking meters and parking fines are just a way for the Council to make some dosh. If they were serious about traffic management they would do more for public transport. Timaru is no different.

To be fair, Timaru did actually remove all the parking meters from the main…

I'm not sure if there is a 4.30am bus from way out West to the University of Auckland, but I doubt it.

I checked no 4.30 bus.
In fact the service to that part of Ak doesnt look to have changed since the 1950's when I was acquainted with people…

If anyone's mother's maiden name is Jesus, I want pictures. :)

Rofflenui.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3048419/Cop-forced-prostitute-into-sex-court

Working from The Press report, you'ld expect a stay at her majesties pleasure.

Jesus.

If anyone's mother's maiden name is Jesus, I want pictures. :)

So all Tiso on yer ass will become usage yes?

I can only hope.

Still – can't be as bad as Dunedin's recent parking debacle…

It took about 18 months for a ticket incurred in Timaru when I was working there (Timaru had particularly zealous parking wardens)

Wait, Timaru had a parking problem when you worked there? I wasn't aware it had a great need for parking wardens now...

Jesus.

Yup, all a bit Kafkaesque for my liking but it turns out that they were using the "confirmation" questions to build a database.

"Mothers maiden name Sir"
"Why?"
"We have to make sure you are who you say you are Sir"
"OK but do you have my Mothers maiden name"
"No Sir"

Jesus.

This all reminds me that I once had a warrant issued for my arrest over a parking ticket I never knew I had.

My brother got a parking ticket in Temuka. Given he spent half the year working overseas travelling between often remote farms, we had bailiffs at my mother's…

It took about 18 months for a ticket incurred in Timaru when I was working there (Timaru had particularly zealous parking wardens) to escalate to the point…

A month later they got a bill for a (supposed) parking ticket from…

It's easy to "suggest" a bus.

It certainly is, especially when you do a breakfast radio show, starting at 6am or whenever, and live miles away like Mike did at the time. I'm not sure if there is a 4.30am bus from way out West to the University of Auckland,…

Cool — but am I the only person who thinks "perk" was a pretty inflammatory and misleading poo word to throw in the headline, full stop?

It was silly and unsustainable, yes.

No, I think it was that from the start.

Cool — but am I the only person who thinks "perk" was a pretty inflammatory and misleading poo word to throw in the headline, full stop?

Either way, very naughty to drop the P-bomb unless Havoc's "celebrity justice" included a taxpayer funded tiki tour with his "girlfriend" to…

Well you've been impeccably holier-than-thou so far, so don't stop now.

Thank you. I just figure if you can't park properly and it causes 'issues' for yourself or others you should probably look for an alternative means of transport.

huh? Baycorp/Veda Advantage/whatever they're called this week is strictly a private company.

So? Once you are in the court system. There you are.Yes, yes been there too. :)

Baycorp is another baby the Justice Department do

huh? Baycorp/Veda Advantage/whatever they're called this week is strictly a private company.

Can I suggest a bus?

Well you've been impeccably holier-than-thou so far, so don't stop now.

It's easy to "suggest" a bus. In practical terms that means at least another unpaid hour on top of the three or four you'll spend prepping for and broadcasting your show. And, for music-heavy…

It was only after I got off the phone that I realised that they'd wanted the information to add to my file so that they could get IRD to take it out of my salary.

Baycorp is another baby the Justice Department do and that data base goes all over…

Does that mean it's OK, if you are astride your horse.

No — but but it's much easier to dodge a fool on a horse than the fools who get the road outside my house confused with SH1.

ACTING LIKE A DANGEROUS COCK WITH AN ENGORGED SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A CAR IS NOT A FUNDAMENTAL, INALIENABLE, HUMAN RIGHT.

Does that mean it's OK, if you are on your horse.

Can I suggest a bus?

That was pretty much my first reaction. Other than, say, Britomart, University of Auckland has to be about the single best-served destination in the entire isthmus for public transport. By bus, by train, by ferry, you'd have to be crawling on bloodied stumps for it…

Any chance of keeping it inside your heads?

Yes you are absolutely right, and I am suitably contrite.

Ooh, it rhymed.

Any chance of keeping it inside your heads?

None of these really have anything to do with the actual point of the story

…

,tomorrow it's necrophilia...

Is that illegal?

Oh...

But still best kept separate in discussion from men who beat their partners, fraudsters and child rapists, are we agreed?

its a staircasing thing. today its parking tickets ,tomorrow it's necrophilia...

...where does it begin and where will it end ???

zero tolerance:p

Segways.

But still best kept separate in discussion from men who beat their partners, fraudsters and child rapists, are we agreed?

That goes without saying...so I didn't say it.

It's not an excuse, but it does seem fair to note that parking around the university was a real problem for people…

The root cause for you putting yourself in that situation where you attract parking tickets, whether it is being disorganised, selfish or just plain inconsiderate, is largely irrelevant to those people handing out the tickets, as it should be.

But still best kept separate in discussion from men who beat…

I paid the $90, with still no idea about where and when I was supposedly illegally parked, just to get them off my back. Scary.

With a world population topping 6 billion, a time will come when it is necessary to ask yourself how competent these clowns are that can't…

No, driving a car doesn't excuse you from acting like a responsible member of society, but parking tickets are basically penalties for being disorganised – the only thing not getting parking tickets makes you is more organised (or lucky) than a person that gets them.

The reason you get a…

No, driving a car doesn't excuse you from acting like a responsible member of…

Though I guess that's indulging in a classist and ageist stereotype myself. :)

Which never happens around these parts does it?

To put it mildly, I think it's a risky assumption to declare that people convince judges because they come from "well-off, connected families".

One might also snark some scepticism that there's much, if any, overlap between the judiciary and BFm's audience. Though I guess that's indulging in a classist and…

(Especially in the case of Mikey, who lost his father when he was a kid — the Roberts were nothing like a wealthy establishment household.)

yeah well, i had to walk 7 miles to school barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways...:)

just shits me that a judge will make…

I thought celeb punishment was rehab.

I thought it was appearing with Paul Henry & gig on Dancing with the Stars.

(although I think it's Corrections, not Justice who do the collection)

It was Justice in the 1990s, Corrections only deal with those convicted of crimes. Perhaps it's changed since.

I think it's a risky assumption to declare that people convince judges because they come from "well-off, connected families".

I think it's riskier to say that it doesn't have an impact. Not saying anything about Mr Roberts' situation, more picking up on the reasoning from Mr Ashby. Should have thrown…

Yes, sure, being articulate and employed will help your case, a lot. But the story I linked to upthread indicates that very many non-middle-class folk in Northland have negotiated the same sort of arrangements.

Christ, that could improve the quality of our radio programmes no end.

The…

Where credible = from a background and lifestyle that the judge approves of. Hard to see how that might favour white folk from well-off, connected families..

Yes, sure, being articulate and employed will help your case, a lot. But the story I linked to upthread indicates that very many non-middle-class…

When you make a proposal to a judge it helps if you are credible.

Where credible = from a background and lifestyle that the judge approves of. Hard to see how that might favour white folk from well-off, connected families..

(Sorry, always wanted to sat that on a forum.)

...i 'm just pissed they didnt afford me the same luxury

fresh retarded garble

Can I just get confirmation from the judges that this is as awesome as I think?

Why dont ya poke the naysayers in the eye and have some fun doin yer community service?

She's driving

She could pull over and park! Oh wait a minute...

Good luck to you Mikey H – and good for you for speaking up.

Yeah, all things considered, it's a pretty cool answer.

Or maybe Teh System did it when you weren't looking...

no no, the drugs are working...first version was better. Gotta agree 100% with Rich of Observationz.

A pleasure , as always .
mikey

As always ,word :)

I don't actually think its got anything to do with…

You remember it's just (or at least mainly?) for PARKING TICKETS right? You know, not burglary, or rape, or murder, or muggings. PARKING TICKETS.

It's $20k worth of parking tickets. Clearly a recidivist offender. Lock him up....actually, can you be locked up for parking tickets? Hmmm, perhaps being surrounded by…

Or maybe Teh System did it when you weren't looking...

In the six years I've lived here I've maybe got four parking tickets. (Ok, I'm asking for it and will now get towed...)

If you don't want to pay fines, park where it's legal, don't drive in bus lanes, register your car, etc. It isn't a human right to…

And the courts departments defaults and penalty fee's are very close to a racket ......…

There are more pressing issues for us…

He should just be made to do exactly what he does now, except wearing a clown costume at all times.

Works for me. Mind you, so does the mascara workshop; I could use some tips.

C'mon, if it was Lhaws with $20k in parking tickets, then I think we'd all be calling for scaphism, as a minimum..

Ha, I'd like to think not but ...
I like havoc for all his eccentricities so would even prefer the likes of Lhaws to show a human side…

Yeah, but what sort of community service could he provide in exchange – verbally abusing people for free?

He should just be made to do exactly what he does now, except wearing a clown costume at all times.

"We need more DJs"

Yes. Get Anne Folly to insist on Gramophone lessons for te Kids.
I wanna hear more Gramophone!

Yeah, but what sort of community service could he provide in exchange –

Mascara and eyeliner workshops.

C'mon, if it was Lhaws with $20k in parking tickets, then I think we'd all be calling for scaphism, as a minimum..

Yeah, but what sort of community service could he provide in exchange – verbally abusing people for free?

Spooky. It wasn't me, but it may have been another moderator or even a glitch. Did you quote dubmugga's post?

No, but as I recall mine went something a little like this;

A justice system with no semblance of meaning. What after all is a car park for other than…

PARKING TICKETS.

Yes, thanks Morgan, I was beginning to think I was visiting Killbog. I remember Melissa Lee was pulled up one night on the Back benchers programme, for parking in the disabled spot, to which she replied " I was only parked on yellow lines to use my phone"…

Why aren't assets (as written down values) being confiscated or salaries garnisheed once the bill gets to $1000?

Yes, they should bloody-well confiscate his car. Kill two birds with one stone, as it were.

You remember it's just (or at least mainly?) for PARKING TICKETS right? You know, not burglary,…

i got deleted simply for posting near Dubmugga? It was on topic, I breached no supression, I know about no supression, what is this China?

Spooky. It wasn't me, but it may have been another moderator or even a glitch. Did you quote dubmugga's post?

...so wheres the justice again ???

He has to play Wiggles rekkids at the uni creche.
Happy now.

Can't we just for once have sushi?

Well I say you could help as well :)

so anyway, mikey cant afford to pay the fines but can afford a good lawyer...

...damn if only i'd been given the option of playin rekkids in the quad or getting my van impounded and auctioned within 2 weeks

dunno if i'd even…

fair enough but you cant argue he didnt get celebrity punishment ?

I thought celeb punishment was rehab.

He did exactly the same thing as anyone else could do under the rules: made an offer to the court that was accepted. If there is a shred of evidence that he got special treatment because he is a "celebrity", I have yet to see it.

fair enough but you…

or that he didnt get celebrity justice and got good old bargain basement riff raff justice ?

He did exactly the same thing as anyone else could do under the rules: made an offer to the court that was accepted. If there is a shred of evidence that he got…

It's the claim that he got "celebrity justice" ...

i'm a bit confused here, are you saying he didnt get the same justice afforded a non celebrity and that because of his celebrity status he got celebrity punshment ?

or that he didnt get celebrity justice and got good old…

There *is* public transport in Auckland, you know. Even out to the Waitaks.

I dont think that service has been updated since the 1950's.
Two commuter buses in the morning into town, two in the evening to return you home.
But thats by the by.

Good on you for reading them, though.

Ah yes. You can give me a sympathetic pat on the head if you like.

It's the claim that he got "celebrity justice" and the unbelievably confused editorial that tried to make an issue of it.

Point taken! I wonder if it is time for newspapers to dispense with editorials and abandon the pretense that there is difference between such columns, and the remainder of…

For further evidence please remeber STAC , 'good' schools can get you out of prison and onto community service, for Bank Robbery!
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10542867&ref=rss

Hmm. If the fines were for something more profound than illegal parking--civil disobedience rather than yellow line violation-- I might be more sympathetic.

But it's not really about the parking fines themselves — clearly Mikey was a dick to let it get that far out of hand (although he's obviously…

Or is that trumped by the miscreant/victim being a longhaired pinko student radio DJ?

Anyway, if people are going to run up parking fines to that…

Scott, please present yourself at the nearest Shadow Lodge for a mindwipe and then some baby eating in honour of the late Queen Mother.

All this feasting is bad for the waistline. I barely fit my diabolical robes any more. Can't we just for once have sushi?

Todays editorial is also a very very average affair – Roughan got a visit from an Infratil lobbyist, and now apparently Snapper is the awesome answer…

Ah, the old Freemasonry Judicial Conspiracy Theory.

Theory? You can't work in the legal system in this country unless you're already a member of the Freemason Illuminati New World Order reptilian elite.

Oops, said too much...

When I moved back home to NZ I filed my US taxes and somehow they got lost .... The IRS kept sending me annoying letters and I just…

[T]here was no sign of a judge, just lots of Freemasons handshakes between old fellows...

Ah, the old Freemasonry Judicial Conspiracy Theory. I like it how people can tell a Freemason by the way they shake hands with other people, even though it's an urban myth. I, for one, am…

If, say, an accountant racked up 200 hours of Community Service wouldn’t the most logical punishment be to get him or her to do that service sorting out accounts for various charities etc. (as long as the original crime wasn’t fraud)

Hear hear. It's very hard to find an auditor…

Why aren't assets (as written down values) being confiscated or salaries garnisheed once the bill gets to $1000?

Yes, they should bloody-well confiscate his car. Kill two birds with one stone, as it were.

Would be a far better use of everyone’s time…

probably with stuff like parking fines the system shouldn't let things be able to get so out of hand – $20k in parking fines at what? $200 a pop is 100 tickets

I think it occurred over a long period of time and at least half of it (and probably…

The only "wrong" this story potentially highlights is that an articulate person with money to pay a smart lawyer will always have an advantage when it comes to dealing with "The Man". That's not Havoc's fault.

I thinking more about the point Russell made: There's an entirely legitimate question whether…

The only "wrong" this story potentially highlights is that an articulate person with money to pay a smart…

I didn't know Northland had so many celebrities

That's why they need a flash $2bn motorway, Russell.

(and how much of what Havoc owes is penalties and interest),

From personal experience (tho I only managed to run up $500 in fines)
about 50%.
I thought I was doing quite well 'cause parking fines were only $20 then.

I didn't know Northland had so many celebrities.

Must be…

Nationally there was $804 million of outstanding fines to the end of September, a 2.3 per cent increase on the $786.1 million owed at the end of September 2008.

Judges nationally and in…

Why aren't assets (as written down values) being confiscated or salaries garnisheed once the bill gets to $1000?

There's little difference between this and refusing to pay for a commercial transaction – parking fines are merely the surcharged price for using a scarce good.

Mentioning it in the story is one thing — but running a picture of Claire Chitham next to text about Tony Veitch and Chris Brown is creepy and wrong.

Totally agree. While I still think the reference in the story to Havoc's marriage breakdown was totally irrelevant, it's only fair…

intended or not I don't think it would be a totally unreasonable inference for readers to draw.

Mentioning it in the story is one thing — but running a picture of Claire Chitham next to text about Tony Veitch and Chris Brown is creepy and wrong.

Class warfare doesn't sell newspapers though.

Aw... sure it does. Or do you think a certain newspaper's obsession with Does My Mortgage Look Fat In This property porn non-stories isn't highly profitable bourgeois- baiting?

It was a shambles, wasn't it?

Also utterly missed the one worthwhile question in Havoc-gate: It's all very nice for the Government to be "getting tough" on unpaid fines — and running Mastercard style ads about how they can really screw up your family holiday to Disneyland. Don't think any…

Rather depends if you're carrying a large box of 12" vinyl as I was for some 16 years of bFM shows and racked up countless parking tickets in the process.

Daytime shows are all two hours, so when they halved the maximum parking time anywhere within a kilometre of campus…

2. I think the underlying premise of the story is valid but that the issue is about class, not celebrity. Class warfare doesn't sell newspapers though.

But that's a completely different "underlying premise".

The HoS is shrieking "celebrity justice!" and "perk!" and "isolated case" and throwing Mikey in with a…

Class warfare doesn't sell newspapers though.

There's always time for that to change

2. I think the underlying premise of the story is valid but that the issue is about class, not celebrity. Class warfare doesn't sell newspapers though.