Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Still crazy after all these years

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  • BenWilson,

    I'm fairly sure that the rich person's take on the economics of boots is extremely different to the poor person's. They will hardly be considering the value for money in the wearing effects of them, and much more the value of the shoe as an investment in style. To that extent, the rich person's boots are far less likely to wear out because they will be discarded at the first sign of wear and replaced with a shiny new set. As such, the actual cost of boot ownership for the rich person will be considerably more. This consideration will probably not even occur to the poor person, who would see that as outrageously frivolous.

    Whether that view (that upgrading boots just on style is frivolous) is correct depends on the extent to which the rich person's wealth derives from their appearance. The far greater investment in boots might actually pay off, if even one customer was impressed by the boots and decided to pay for the rich person's services on those grounds, or to marry them, or any number of other very difficult to quantify aspects. Perhaps just wearing stylish boots gives the rich person the confidence to do their rich person business way out of proportion to the cost of the boots.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    I still swear by the economics of buying second hand cars. At least in NZ.

    At least in NZ indeed.

    Someone might already have made this point, but there's no import market in Australia due to the tariffs that apply. This means the market for second hand cars is much less competitive and prices higher. A car that's done 50 - 80k but is within the manufacturer's warranty (typically three years) will hold much of its original sale value. That's the price of maintaining (possibly uncompetitive) domestic production frankly...

    I suspect, but don't know, that there's a lot more new cars sold per annum in Australia than NZ per head of population

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    The benefit of Blundstones is that they don't change.Much like the Doc Martin, and any person who has owned a pair would recommend them.
    nice Boots

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Little bit too much information there, but y'know what I mean :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Oh and Ben, when it comes to Boots I have been known to splash out $800, then again my cheap boots got more wear and both are still intact. I also will admit to claiming a bargain because there was a Sale on, thus saving $200, and therefore bargain/cheap is yet another category, but style, one can never have enough style, which could be 2nd hand lycra if you ask Mr Crawford.
    Ok, I'll move along now....(in my cheap 2nd hand car) :))

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    I buy all my underwear & footwear new - but I'm happy to wear secondhand jerseys(merino) or shirts(cotton, silk, or woollen.) With v. few exceptions, my trou are Warehouse grey brushed cotton. Stylish? Nope - but comfortable? Definitely! And one of my sisters is a genius opshopper, hooray!

    On the other hand, I've owned 2ndhand vehicles since I was 16 and only ever once bought a new one (a Mitsubishi L300 in 1995.)I currently drive a Mitsubishi L400 people mover a.k.a a Delica Spacegear Jasper.
    I keep it maintained, and it is a berloody comfortable travelling vehicle (and has optional 4WD.) It, and books, are my luxuries.

    Except for somewhat occaisionally expensive alcohol, and the odd bit of gourmet food (I love good cheeses!), I dont have other luxuries. I havent travelled outside of ANZ since 1998; I dont have a vast tv (it's the same size as my iMac's screen), I dont buy makeup or jewellery or designer clothes or footwear. I dont have expensive sports equipment (I dont think of fishing as a sport but I invested in my rods & reels in the 1980s &90s: they're good but not Sages) and my only boat is a 12foot spun-plastic dinghy.

    And while I have a substantial mortgage, OD and continuing credit card bill, I think I am incredibly wealthy in the people and things that are important to me. Yep, I could sell my home and get rid of all the debts - but where else can I wake up to tui and rirerire singing in the dawn? Or rarely hear anything else except koukou & the sea at night?

    I enjoy it all while it lasts-

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

  • Robbie Siataga,

    I swapped a choice, old public works electric clock for a pair of classically stunning, barely worn in, black ankle zipped, Venezuelan leather, winkle picker boots. You might be rich, but these boots will kick your boots arse and when combined with blacker than black skinny jeans and black suede jacket, makes for a withering combo !

    They say you can tell a lot about a person by the shoes they wear and apparently, according to my teen kids, its the first thing they look for in the opposite sex. Me...i've always had a shoe fetish, maybe my kids inherited 'that' gene.

    Last time i was in Wellington, i was sitting at a cafe, as you do, where there was a low fence blocking peoples feet from view as they walked past. I sat there for ages picking out what footwear they'd be wearing before they stepped out from the fence. Mostly i was on the money but for the ones i weren't, i'd look at them and think ewwww...y'all need a fashion footwear makeover.

    There's immutable laws of complementarity and no excuse for bad taste, so i reckon theres some inverse law of wealth vs bad taste, where the more removed you are from street fashion/lifestyle, the worse your taste in clothes are. Take high fashion for instance, its a joke on rich people to make them look ridiculous while paying shitloads for the privilege.

    The emperors new clothes are actually just re hashed versions of older fashion by kids who cant afford new clothes...but you didn't hear it from me ;)

    Since Feb 2010 • 259 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    It, and books, are my luxuries.
    Except for somewhat occasionally expensive alcohol

    Ah, luxury. each to their own eh?
    My luxuries are changing all the time. At the mo, it is the sleeve of Tattoos I am doing as a therapy.I also find fine dining luxury and the absolute enjoyment of having a garden,(rather than flatting with 250 specimens in pots)To have a plant flower for 48 hours then decline, with the knowledge that another life is created because of that, and the exquisite flower is no more. I have to share the image now. It is the big one towards the end of this album.Enjoy. :)
    http://picasaweb.google.com/sofiebribiesca/XmasGardening?feat=directlink

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    I suspect, but don't know, that there's a lot more new cars sold per annum in Australia than NZ per head of population

    Yeah, I was pretty shocked at the old dunger that was all I could afford in Ozzie. I received a death threat for wearing a t-shirt that said "Bathurst Skyline", too. Keeping Geelong going is important to Ozzies, and if they have to drive Holdens and Fords, they think it's worth the price.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Sofie - your garden is visually ravishing -
    I very occaisionally enjoy fine dining out but it's difficult to find such where I live (or, indeed, most places I visit.) So, we (family, friends, self) enjoy fine dining *in* - freshest seafood, best veg, wonderful slow-cooked venison-on-the-bone as well as backsteaks, cheeses o yes! & titi, scallops, oysters (they are large and soooo succulent this season!), mussels & 'bait...some of us make our own breads (I'm good at scones & frittery things) and - we share it all-

    it tastes way better somehow...

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

  • Robbie Siataga,

    My luxuries are changing all the time. At the mo, it is the sleeve of Tattoos I am doing as a therapy.

    OK ya got me now. show me yours and i'll show you mine :)

    Since Feb 2010 • 259 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    OK ya got me now. show me yours and i'll show you mine :)

    http://picasaweb.google.com/sofiebribiesca/Tattoos?feat=directlink

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    enjoy fine dining *in*

    That is actually what I meant Islander. The luxury of the process, the shoppin',the friends who fish, the prep, the dining ,the friends. Luxury!

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Tautoko Sofie!
    One of the nicest luxuries it is possible for a human to have-

    (I mean, add a bit of congenial music, joketelling, good scents from a garden - that list could go on!)

    amicable sharing of good good food-*


    *OK, and drink et al-

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

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Aye. The scent of the Cordyline in flower drifting across the deck......:)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • JackElder,

    Wellington • Since Mar 2008 • 709 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    I received a death threat for wearing a t-shirt that said "Bathurst Skyline", too. Keeping Geelong going is important to Ozzies, and if they have to drive Holdens and Fords, they think it's worth the price.

    Ironically, Nissan had factories in Oz, up until about 1994. Chrysler bailed out of Oz in the 1980s & sold its factories to Mitsi, which itself has recently jumped ship, leaving just Ford, Holden and Toyota.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Ironically, Nissan had factories in Oz, up until about 1994

    Not all Ozzies are total boofheads. Those who like quality vehicles will drive them. They just pay through the nose. But they always have new, which I guess is worth something.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Robbie Siataga,

    Sorry Sofie but i don't have a sleeve to show you. i do have some old dragons, hungover from drunken clueless youth times, that have faded heaps as i had 2 sessions to remove them but am now thinking of just getting them covered over.

    Yours looks like a lovely work in progress and i hope you never regret getting them.

    and now my last rant on the Kurariki affair until post court date.

    I 'm thinking it's probable due to their "victim" status and closed media ranks protecting their insider status that they will get name supression.

    What i'd love to do, in true guerilla fashion, is attend the court dates, get their names, wait outside with a ghetto ass camera crew, shove it (the camera and mic) in their faces and fire off a shitload of questions like these...

    Excuse me, but were you aware he was under a media ban and by consenting to interview him you forced him to break his parole conditions ?

    Were your bosses aware you couldn't quote him ?

    And why did your bosses send 2 women ?

    Did you really not have an exit strategy when you visited him in case he got violent ?

    In hindsight was that wise ?

    What were you wearing that day ?

    Were you showing any cleavage ?

    Did you discuss anything sexually related about his time in jail ?

    Did you lead him on by doing anything that might have led him to act out a fantasy ?

    Why didnt you say anything to him when he allegedly got his penis out ?

    What sort of woman condones that sort of behaviour in a professional setting ?

    Did it turn you on knowing you had got him aroused ?

    ...then blog it with photos and youtube the standard media frenzy line of questioning.

    Since Feb 2010 • 259 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Get a room

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    What were you wearing that day ?

    Were you showing any cleavage ?

    Did you discuss anything sexually related about his time in jail ?

    Did you lead him on by doing anything that might have led him to act out a fantasy ?

    Why didnt you say anything to him when he allegedly got his penis out ?

    What sort of woman condones that sort of behaviour in a professional setting ?

    Did it turn you on knowing you had got him aroused ?

    Come on, this is just vile. Very glad its your last rant -- for now -- on this.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Robbie Siataga,

    friends of yours huh Sacha ?

    Look around phil. The media does way more vile shit and no one calls them on it and IMHO these gutless hacks deserve it...

    Since Feb 2010 • 259 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones,

    Plenty of people call the media on carrying out this kind of vile shit, Robbie. Because of people justly critiquing that panty-sniffing approach to victims of sexual assault, the media don't do it as much these days, and stick to reporting it when defence lawyers do. Even defence lawyers have to draw the line somewhere, or they lose the sympathy of the jury.

    My point is this - if vile shit goes unchallenged, it continues. I wouldn't stand by and let a friend do the whole "she asked for it" routine, and I wouldn't continue to participate in a forum where that kind of nonsense is welcome. Take your offensive misogyny to somewhere where it's acceptable - it's not here.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • Robbie Siataga,

    oh bullshit B. The media loves a good sniff round the crotch as long as its not theirs. Tiger woods, John Terry, Lara Bingle and that's just this month.

    No one calls them on jack or asks us if we want to see it or if it has any relevence to NZ.

    How long did it take the overlords to hang tony veitch out to dry and how many other speed freaks like darrren mc donald are there in the media and how many would exaggerate a story like barbara dreaver to get the ratings up ?...fucking shitloads

    so where's this plenty of people you're talking about ?

    Since Feb 2010 • 259 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    I had originally intended to comment here along the lines of "I can't wait for the Womens' XV to arrive", but I'm sure at this point they've probably had enough of this stuff, just like the rest of us.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

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