Hard News: On the Waterfront
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No. No it isn't. Where on earth did you get the impression that I intended to dispel any impression of snobbery?
Well, to be honest, anybody who calls sports fans munters as a general term really shouldn't bother talking about sports stadiums; it's the same sort of animals attitude that resulted in all sorts of bad stuff in Europe.
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remember drunken teachers reeking of tobacco?
Private boys school then, Steve?
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I felt the same way about the would-be Stadium New Zealand in Auckland -- although I'd have been inclined to add value with decent conference facilities
And were that to be proposed as a stand-alone concept, entirely divorced from the RWC, then it may well have stood up and become a reality. One of the biggest failings of the waterfront stadium idea was that it would have had to be completed inside five years, and that's starting with blank rolls of paper. No ifs, buts, or maybes, and absolutely, positively no extensions to the construction timeframe.
Buildings that have already been designed and will be built on solid ground take a couple of years, and that's the ones that aren't designed to be a big oval seating 60k people. The design can take that long again. The time period was so ridiculously compressed that it simply wasn't realistic.
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In other news, they're going to build a motorway through Taupiri mountain. Who could possibly object?
Don't think so. The map published with link is clear enough, in that it shows the planned expressway rejoining the current SH1 at the northern edge of Taupiri. Taupiri mountain is further north with a Waikato tributary river between it and Taupiri.
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I realised on the way home from work that we've done seven whole pages without a post-title-referencing 'coulda been a contender' joke. I think we're slipping, frankly.
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Private boys school then, Steve?
Yeah, but nah but :)
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I think we're slipping, frankly
Not at all - Mr Judd only just explained paralipsis and now we have another example to consolidate the lesson.
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@ChrisW: I was being facietious. I don't believe that even Rodney Hide would dig a cut & cover (we'll put the bodies back after) trench through there.
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In reality, there is a spectrum of land uses that ranges from the truly public to the purely private. Cafes and bars form a vitally important part of the "third space", and as the phrase "public house" indicates, in many cultures they are considered to be as important a public facility as a park or square. In fact, the ground floor of a building that houses a popular and accessible cafe can be much more relevant and useful as a sociable public space than a poorly designed and sited park.
Agreed, but this only works when the grounds of the pubs or cafes include green space, somewhere for kids to play and public art installations.
I'm from Vancouver and I understand that developers there are held to a strict code in the downtown area that requires them to provide for all of the above - plus public drinking water fountains. They are only required to have drinking fountains for people, but many have one fountain at people level and a corresponding one at dog level, which I thought was a nice touch for thirsty city dogs.
The waterfront in downtown Vancouver has the advantage of being next to a huge park, but on the seawall itself there are features that could be fitted into Auckland's waterfront.
This fountain is like a giant sprinkler system for kids, and is a nice spot for people with kids to have a beer or a coffee but are able to watch their kids play.
The seawall is about 10km long and the park end is like this
and the CBD end look like this
Another useful feature along the seawall was the use of specific paths (at slightly different levels) for pedestrians and those on rollerblades, bikes or skateboards. Much safer and more relaxing for all concerned, when compared to the bruising experience you have along Mission Bay, where the pedestrians and wheeled folks are only separated by a painted line.
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ike many built features in Auckland including most of the buildings in the CBD, I reckon that pohutukawa sculpture is clunky and lacks grace.
Do you know Sacha, I have always liked that sculpture. And then, the other night, when I was driving some citizens of the fine PAS parish to an evening event, I saw it all lit up. I think it's fantastic.
Does anyone else remember drunken teachers reeking of tobacco?. Or am I just that old?.
Steve. Darling. Do you even have to ask?
Now, back to the waterfront. I think it's a fine idea. Whatever it takes to open up that area is fine with me, and my rates. It's time we stopped pissing around and committed to being an urban place with useable urban spaces, instead of the built uppedness that abounds down that end of town.
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Now if only we could make it so the Sky City carpark isn't such an evil vortex of doom.........
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so the bit before the quoted passage looks like this:
Er, apologies Luke, I screwed that up by activating the damn thing with my example. It should look like this but just imagine the word "quote" instead of "goat"
Before selected passage:
<goat>
after selected passate
</goat>
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after selected passate
Um, passage.
Slinking off in tech/typing disgrace now.
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I'm not sure that the Dunedin Stadium's location for an indoor stadium means anything - it's not like you get a view (and it's not strictly 'indoor' it's actually open at the ends, it just has a roof - I doubt it will be heatable so don't throw out those Carisbrook winter woolies just yet).
Rumours around town have it that location has more to do with who'd bought up the land it's to be built on than any other reason. Parking in the area is the wirst in town, mostly because much of it's student flats, most without garages and with 3-4 people living in them - people are worried that Logan Park's going to be chewed up by people parking on it in winter
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Now if only we could make it so the Sky City carpark isn't such an evil vortex of doom........
Said like a tru spokin teacher who smokes. :)
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On the Iran story - thought this info might help some folk to help out.
There's a link to Windows instructions also.
If it breaks everything - please don't have at me - merely passing what looks to be good work.
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uhh. That last sentence should read:
"merely passing on code that looks to be good work."
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Dyan C - the only city in the world (havent gone to many, mind) that I felt instantly at home in - aside from Dunedin (where I should feel at home in, given the considerable whanau connections!)- was Vancouver.
Relished the place!
Copenhagen I enjoyed; and Amsterdam. London _ well, there were so many iconic places- same with New York- I had to sort of enjoy them. San Francisco - good memories, and LA, ditto. Salt Lake City? Totally memorable and, please, may I never go there again.
Dunedin I could live in (on the outskirts.) Vancouver, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam, I'd gladly revisit.
O, there seems to be some cities missing-
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I tend to think of the Wellington Railway Station concourse & booking hall as interior public spaces,
I agree with Tom on that one, especially after its recent tidying up. It's also one of the busiest areas in Wellington. I use that space almost daily and not so much because of the trains, although it is still very much the hub of the transport network - and sometimes there are even steam engines. The entrance to part of Victoria University is by the ticket office - the main seminar room is the old railways board room - and on the other side of the concourse is a great little supermarket. I love the way that people use the space in such a variety of ways - from the buskers to the students to the travellers passing through.
Integration with a good rail network is one of the reasons for the success of the Wellington stadium. I was one of the initially cynical about the stadium but have attended some great events, from the Rolling Stones to conferences, and my first and only live rugby game (as a result of an invitation to the members' patch - was against the French and Jonah played). It has good design as a ground, and from the outside - particularly when lit up - could be a classy space ship recently landed.
As for leisure places nearby no-one has mentioned the Thistle Inn - the oldest in Wellington and dating from the era when little boats tied up outside, and the railway yards under the sea.
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WH,
@ James Green: If your into Andy Samberg, you could check out Hotrod. Best use of a Europe or John Farnham song in a recent film, it's too legit to quit. It's good in a way that's really quite bad.
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JLM,
When I used to pass through that space as a littlie, to visit my gran and auntie, it was vaster at the hall of the mountain king, and I used to gaze up in wonder at Kupe's big toe, which was somewhat larger than my head. Whatever happened to that statue?
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That historic art deco statue almost crumbled away in storage but has now been restored and is outside at the other end of the waterfront not far from Te Papa.
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Best use of a... John Farnham song in a recent film
Sort of irrelevant sidebar: Danny McBride, the TV looter in the final moments of that clip, is my new favourite person. Friends in America (TM) are able to send you Eastbound & Down , which is six half-hour episodes of pure uncomfortable comedic joy. (Warning: contains mullets, rednecks, pickup trucks, swearing, and baseball.)
My new life's ambition: to own a leopard-skin jetski.
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I think it has always functioned like that. I usually put an extra space in to avoid that problem. Onespace. Two spaces.
Thanks for reporting this, seems it's inconsistent from what I can tell, we'll take a look.
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I want a beach.
Floating.
With sand. Or without sand.
On the end of the wharf.A swim in the tide.
At lunchtime.
That would be cool.
And unique.
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