Hard News by Russell Brown

Read Post

Hard News: Event Season

194 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 8 Newer→ Last

  • BenWilson, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Well, it is called "Team NZ". Expensive naming rights, but if we win we'll probably make back more than Emirates will.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • kiwicmc, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Attachment

    On all sides of the two hulls, plus fore sail, plus Silver Fern and flag on the Wing sail.

    I bet we got a better deal than Nespresso...

    Auckland, New Zealand • Since May 2008 • 88 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    And as for the other news on Sunday, it was not a real surprise, in the end no contest. What will be interesting for me is to see just how much Cunliffe treats his win as a mandate to do whatever the hell he likes with the Labour Party, in the same way Key has treated his wins as a mandate to do whatever he wants with the country.

    I hope that he will demonstrate leadership, which includes the ability to listen to knowledgable people in his team and accept their judgement, even when that may go against his personal preference. But we will see I guess.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    Yes, and it does depend on what the rest of the team does, too. If they go to work undermining him, then disciplinary measures are on the table. I hope they'll just go to work winning the election, though. Since their jobs depend on it, that seems like the likely option to me.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green,

    Meanwhile , in the “More Boring News on a Monday” Dept.

    (By the way, nice to see you all here still . . .)

    `A REFLECTION OF EVIDENCE FROM NEW STUDIES’… THE IPCC CHANGES ITS STORY

    See my reply below -- RB

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    Mr. Cunliffe, who yesterday successfully defeated a gay man and your rowdy uncle in a hotly-contested leadership election, has struggled to receive media acknowledgement of his accomplishment, due to ongoing coverage of two multibillion-dollar companies driving yachts around obstacles for the entertainment of journalists.

    The Civilian takes up the theme.

    Cunliffe will have a better time of it tomorrow if at least one of the races is lost, otherwise whatever question time performance he makes, he'll be a footnote to a major television event.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • George Darroch,

    Don’t feed the…

    I was looking for a Hooton column about AC/DC, but it appears to have disappeared. Whether cock up or conspiracy, I'm not sure.

    WLG • Since Nov 2006 • 2264 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Farmer Green,

    Meanwhile , in the “More Boring News on a Monday” Dept.

    (By the way, nice to see you all here still . . .)

    Um, hi.

    I've deleted the entirety of the off-topic climate-denial text you copied from the Daily Mail and posted here. Please don't do this again.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Your prerogative Russell. There was only an outside chance that more than a few here would want to catch up on the science. I guess that there are more important things to discuss, right :-)

    Still, I'm looking forward to the day when there is an open discussion here, but I'm not holding my breath. In the meantime , I'll just carry on sequestering that atmospheric carbon, like a good organic farmer ought to.
    Stay cool.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Cameron,

    I know it's sorta trendy to shit on it a bit ("That money could go into healthcare or eradicating child poverty!"), But I'm glad we are in it.

    And this is from someone with minimal sailing experience (I got concussed by the boom, gave the boat a dirty look and didn't go back). But the thing is, I'm of that generation where growing up as a teenager EVERYTHING from NZ was a bit shit.
    All we heard about was the 'brain drain', how crap our new NCEA system was, and that music was "Oh, they're pretty good...for a NZ band." It's that mentality that if you want to be something, you'd better get out of NZ quick smart.

    So it is really awesome to see our kiwi boat doing well against the big boys. It's inspiring. It's like that argument about the effect of the moon landing , and the economic benefits it created in the US ( one calculation was that the spinoffs were $14 back on every $1 spent on the original mission). I get that might be a stretch, but it irritates me to no end how safe we are with investment sometimes in this country. If you play it safe, what do the young-uns have to aspire to?

    Just read interviews with Lorde (another example of awesomeness, good on her) and how she talks about NZ. She's gotten some flak for "culturally barren" "noone cares about NZ" etc, but thats how kids here feel. They need things to aspire to, more than just the All Blacks.

    Christchurch • Since May 2013 • 15 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Hilary Cameron,

    thats how kids here feel

    Well bum. Because they have every reason to be proud of their country and the people in it. Seriously, we have amazing engineers and designers and the AC72 they designed and built is just one example. We all know about some amazing sportspeople from here … really … Beatrice, Lydia, Sarah, Hamish, Eric … see if I use their first names it makes me feel as if I know them a little :).

    But it isn’t just sports, kiwis seem reticent about highlighting those who excel and we haz them in all fields. Science, art, literature, engineering and yes even fields like grubby business which kind of make NZ quite a bit richer than it might otherwise be.

    I’m normally cynical and glass-half-empty but when you ignore the moronic bureaucracies that some of these folks get squished into the reality is we have some really inspiring and talented people here. I do wish they were given more freedom to be wrong and make mistakes and more control over direction than the middle management allow but that doesn’t make them less wonderful.

    I wish we could see more of the elite that we have in this country, maybe the kids wouldn’t think so little of NZ.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Hilary Cameron,

    It’s that mentality that if you want to be something, you’d better get out of NZ quick smart.

    Where did that mentality come from?
    Maybe it was the first signs of "celebrity" culture; the age of narcissism even.

    Farmer Green always thought that the idea was to DO something , rather than be something.
    Taking on the prevailing farming paradigm , head on , and trying to demonstrate a better way seemed like a good thing to do.


    <q> If you play it safe, what do the young-uns have to aspire to?<q>

    Well, NZ Idol , it seems. Sad.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Cameron, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    Completely true, I agree there is so much talent and so much of it goes unrecognised.

    Part of my point is that the Americas Cup is a fantastic platform to showcase some of those under-recognised talents. Don't be too harsh on the yoof, remember at that age if you're a non-occurrence in pop culture you may as well not exist. That's just part of their world. For them to see kiwis being talked about overseas in the context of achievement is invaluable.

    I really do think Kiwis have truly been upping our game over the last few years across the board, it's awesome. Events like the Americas Cup, the Olympics...hell, even the likes of 'The Hobbit' is a great example to the kids growing up now.

    Christchurch • Since May 2013 • 15 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    I wish we could see more of the elite that we have in this country, maybe the kids wouldn’t think so little of NZ.

    Actually Bart - the 'kids' I know, family kids, go away for adventures & learning and - majorly, come back home...with increased skills they probably couldnt have obtained here ( for all kinds of reasons)- one and all, they appreciate our educational system (not entirely, not unthinkingly) & - especially-our "do it! You can!" ethos. And the fact that, while we do have hierarchies, they are not crushingly exclusive.

    This applies to your comment also Hilary-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Islander,

    I wish we could see more of the elite

    You do mean the "achievers " don't you? Elite has some other connotations.
    The thing is , most aspire to "quiet achievement" ; public exposure is not of value to the quiet achiever. The achievement itself is the more than adequate reward ; the satisfaction of a job well done , and the knowledge that , having done one's utmost, one could not have done more.

    And then there's the knockers -looking around for another tall poppy. Yes it's easy to understand why many prefer the quiet life.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand,

    Welcome back, Islander

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Farmer Green,

    ou do mean the “achievers ” don’t you? Elite has some other connotations.

    I was replying to Bart. Mate.

    Thanks Geoff!
    After a rocky few months, I'm ready to -urrrm, engage again?
    Cheers all -

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    And as for the other news on Sunday, it was not a real surprise, in the end no contest.

    Except it was a contest, a genuine and apparently testing one. Like many others, I think that's a real positive for the entire Party as well as for the caucus. The clarity of the result, which I assume you're alluding too, is a good thing too.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Islander,

    I was replying to Bart. Mate.

    Good to see that you are well and well up for it. Another day- maybe .

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Cunliffe will have a better time of it tomorrow if at least one of the races is lost, otherwise whatever question time performance he makes, he’ll be a footnote to a major television event.

    He'll be good for tomorrow, as it's a rest day for the America's Cup. Probably only have 5 minutes on the news.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Dean Papa,

    ha!

    greatest race ever according to the lead on one news, but then in the story it turns out it was Team NZ making the claim!

    Auckland • Since Dec 2011 • 31 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh, in reply to Islander,

    Good to see you back, Islander.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Chris Waugh,

    Thanks Chris and - obliquely- Farmer Green- cheers all-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Islander,

    Hello!

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • steve black,

    So now that we have all greeted one another, who will win?

    The database boat or the airline boat?

    That's what I've taken to calling them.

    I do like the idea of P Class or Laser, but I'd make it a bit bigger and something more local. Say voyaging waka?

    sunny mt albert • Since Jan 2007 • 116 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 8 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.