Crusher Collins' announcement reeks of the Broken Window Parable. What next, will bodyguards become the next Paritai Drive fashion accesory?

And if we're having enough trouble as it is determining who's innocent and who's guilty...

many of the fundamentally irrational believe that absolute power comes from the barrel of a Caran D'Ache fountain pen.

I thought they made Crayons, never mind.
In other stupid National Govt. News...
You know when they tell us that we can't afford stuff like decent wages for those involved in…

Bethune may well be, but then he's entitled to be just a wee bit pissed off at the way he's been treated.

A Japanese whaling ship deliberately rammed his ship and almost killed him and his crew (some people would call that attempted murder), and our Government has not only…

How many past and present All Blacks have passed their lives able to go out in public without acting like Visigoths with erections at the sight of a pretty woman? Those professional sportsmen who don't treat women like semen spitoons should grow a pair and speak up.

I read a…

If Pete Bethune is a bit of a dick, that's nothing compared with the pro-whaling protesters calling for him to be 'hanged'. They come across as the hyper-nationalist types who think General Tojo was innocent.

They may well be, though I don't think you can fault the Japanese police for…

I think Pete Bethune's a bit of a dick, actually.

Bethune may well be, but then he's entitled to be just a wee bit pissed off at the way he's been treated.

A Japanese whaling ship…

I have a big bag of coffee to earn

Verily, tis the new economy..

Cant argue with that now, can you? :)

Sure I can, but I have a big bag of coffee to earn. And twelve thousand words on why I want to have the brains of Sergio Leone and Sylvian Chomet in jars on the mantle isn't quite going to do it.…

what other "support" was Pete Bethune expecting from the Foreign Affairs Minister?

When a New Zealand ship is rammed in international waters, yes, I expect our government to take that up forcefully with the nation concerned – especially when they are illegally killing whales for commercial gain in an international…

I know standing up for Murray McCully is just asking for a faecal facial, but what other "support" was Pete Bethune expecting from the Foreign Affairs Minister

I think Pete Bethune's a bit of a dick, actually.

Have recently seen two of the best games of rugby in my life the Maoris defeating England and the Abs defeating the…

Ah... yes...well, I'm a bit ashamed of that post. It was a cheap shot comparing McCully and Key to dogs.

Sorry dogs.

I know standing up for Murray McCully is just asking for a faecal facial, but what other "support" was Pete Bethune expecting from the Foreign Affairs Minister? I…

The studios themselves, in my opinion, are guilty of cultural vandalism of barbarian proportions.

Like the Beeb. They don't know what they've got till it's gone.

Frankly, the Italians are the worst for looking after their 'sixties media artifacts. Many of their soundtrack reissues start with a shitty 45 rip…

I did notice the wow and flutter in a number of sequences but I understand that couldn't have been fixed without totally re-recording the sound from scratch.

Yeah, that was the worst of it. What a shame. Judging by the soundtrack CDs even the master of L'Uomo Dell'Armonica, perhaps the…

Any idea what was so 'stunning[ly] restor[ed]' about that one? The sound was poor (at both sessions, I'm told) and visually, it was full of all the scratches and rips you'd expect of a 40-year-old print.

Well, to be fair, the print was in the condition you'd expect for one…

Certainly, the Historic Places Trust, whoever they are, think so.

Here's a clue, Paul. It's in the title.

And re: the Once Upon A Time In The West screening, I saw a print here three weeks ago…

More McCully. In light of Bethune's media statement, Scott Yorke lampoons our govt lapdogs of the Japanese.

Ah... yes...well, I'm a bit ashamed of that post. It was a cheap shot comparing McCully and Key to dogs.

Sorry dogs.

I think what was stunningly restored was our appreciation of the genre.

Don't get me wrong; I love the film. Just a bit perplexed about that.

I've done wonders for my blood pressure and general mental health since I've stopped trying to rationally engage with the fundamentally irrational, or rewarding mental and spiritual infants with attention.

Good to hear. Problem is, many of the fundamentally irrational believe that absolute power comes from the barrel of a…

I quite liked it. The endless homages were like old friends.

The ironic thing is that, if it wasn't for the millions of dollars our government is shovelling the way of Big Sport, the wingnuts might have a point that the moronic rantings of Haden are a private matter between him, his talkback radio employer and the NZFU.

Not so. The…

After seeing 'Once Upon A Time in The West' in it's full Civic glory

Any idea what was so 'stunning[ly] restor[ed]' about that one? The sound was poor (at both sessions, I'm told) and visually, it was full of all the scratches and rips you'd expect of a 40-year-old print.…

How many past and present All Blacks have passed their lives able to go out in public without acting like Visigoths with erections at the sight of a pretty woman? Those professional sportsmen who don't treat women like semen spitoons should grow a pair and speak up.

Craig, that is…

Re: Andy Haden, I'm very interested to get the following information:
1) how many of his celebrity rugby mates have been charged with rape after having refused to pay a girl money.
2) how many of his celebrity rugby mates have been charged with rape (or perhaps anticipated a rape…

It was a comment on a TV show, Russell, not a Papal Bull.

Whatever happened to robust debate about things? Must we all agree on everything--and close down debate on all those who don't agree with us?

"Robust debate" requires someone starting off with a coherent argument that bears some…

I was working my way up to the kidney stone crisis. You'll understand.

I know, I know, I tease. Now excuse me while I go drink half a gallon of water.

Any chances of opening a Film Festival thread?

la-la-la-la-laa – puts fingers in ears – remember the film festival doesn't start at the other end of the country for a few weeks yet – no spoilers please

After seeing 'Once Upon A Time in The West' in it's full Civic glory

I saw that in Italy many moons ago. Sigh.

I see Peter Cresswell has also got in on the act of trying to rehabilitate Haden's comment.

this is what passes for "Rational passion and passionate reason" or "Say what you mean, and mean what you say" these days?
and these are intelligent people?

How apt that…

I'm still waiting for my DVDs from last year :-)

After seeing 'Once Upon A Time in The West' in it's full Civic glory, you can have my Leone DVDs. They're dead to me... :) And there's Senso and The Red Shoes still to come. I know the financials probably…

I'm still waiting for my DVDs from last year :-)

I was working my way up to the kidney stone crisis. You'll understand.

Any chances of opening a Film Festival thread? I'd much rather talk about the two fucking incredible films I saw yesterday sans thread-jack than more Party Central/Rugby World Cup idiocy I just don't give a shit about?

Send me the review! I'll run it in Speaker and give the System…

Yeah, but....shouldn't we be demanding *more* of them?

Hell yes.
Sounds good Craig.

Any chances of opening a Film Festival thread? I'd much rather talk about the two fucking incredible films I saw yesterday sans thread-jack.

Whatever happened to robust debate about things?

Yeah, like our entrenched habits of saying "it was just a joke" as Dyan notes or more recently of whining "it's PC gone mad". Or maybe they're talking about Cresswell's blog?

Bully Haden lacks the balls to say what he really believes unless…

Just a second – they've stopped going "It's enought to make you vote Libertarianz!" at the end of every PR.

Perhaps finally recognising the failure of proof by repitition.

Should there be a small ceremony?

"They could put his aquarium in one of those ugly sheds on the Auckland waterfront. Heaven knows no person in their right mind would want to party inside one of those architectural eyesores."

Anyone else here remember the Hero party in the old Princess wharf before it became a big…

Strangely apt though in terms of the original protagonists of this debacle....

Yeah, but....shouldn't we be demanding *more* of them? As, you know, human beings? (Except: oh, wait, that's a perspective that involves rapists as the problem, which is one the NZCon people are thoroughly unable to perceive.)

some people still subscribe to a commodity model of sexuality, where a woman’s precious internal chastity orb is depleted every time she ‘gives it up’ to a new guy. Men, on the other hand, rack up points by claiming these chastity bits when we discard them.

I suppose the All…

This is Big Boar's response to my robust analysis of his argument:

So we disagree. I can live with that. What else should we talk about?

Good grief.

And Cresswell's response on his blog:

It was a comment on a TV show, Russell, not a Papal Bull.…

That is one priceless link – including of course its closing link to this which is beyond any satire mere mortals might dream up.

Sam, the people need a quote from that:

"Paul is the sort of useful idiot Lenin would have loved," said Dr McGrath. "A spineless creature of…

I thought that meant "There's a sign in the Domain that says "No Possums""

You have to read it with a Barry Humphries voice: "There's a sign in the Domain that says "No", Possums"

ETA: Also further down, this painting approvingly linked by Mr Cresswell, which in the present context...

Julie Fairey, whilst I agree with your sentiment of reading the post and comments over at NZ Conservative, I don't think that Chris Trotter's post- if you're referring to "Bitter Fruits" (http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2010/07/bitter-fruits.html)- is in…

some people still subscribe to a commodity model of sexuality, where a woman’s precious internal chastity orb is depleted every time she ‘gives it up’ to a new guy. Men, on the other hand, rack up points by claiming these chastity bits when we discard them.

World of Whorecraft?

I'll be very interested in what the Naval and Family pub, Urge Bar, and Family nightclub will have in store as entertainment for the great mass of rugby fans wandering down K'rd....

You know, I'm sure there'll be more than a few rugbyhead gays enjoying the World Cup.

Spectating the kiwiblogs, probably not.

Not a bad idea Phillip, in fact, why stop at Crummer Road?. Include Myers park and K' road and we have a winner, bugger the CBD.

I'll be very interested in what the Naval and Family pub, Urge Bar, and Family nightclub will have in store as entertainment for the…

"Tell me why I don't like Mondays".

Boom Boom
said the Town Rats
(and Basil Brush)

A few thought on the sheds are that they could relatively easily and cheaply remove the asbestos sheets, clad the sheds in a mix of iron and clear sheeting leaving exposed timber…

I thought that meant "There's a sign in the Domain that says "No Possums""

Whereas it actually means "Tell me why I don't like Mondays".

the other end of the bell curve

From the internal chastity orb to the bell end in seven comments. Efficiency.

Thing is, they came over to my place and started the fight. I'm not supposed to argue with them at my own blog?

Good people should be paid to deal with the other end of the bell curve. Otherwise it's just using up energy for no benefit.

I can't even remember what the original packaging looked like, honestly.

Oh, my dear Emma that's so sad. But someone (was it Jolisa?) wrote of a process where you can get it bejazzled, or vajazzled or something. Get it covered with rhinestones to make it all purdy.

"I agree – they are very much the old guard of the rugby/racing/beer NZ male stereotype."

For the first year or so after I moved to NZ I was genuinely under the impression that nearly all people in NZ (with the exception of my husband Paul and my mother in…

It would never become a collectors item to be flogged off on Trade Me.

I can't even remember what the original packaging looked like, honestly.

Thank you Emma, I like your analogy a lot.

I was thinking of this:

some people still subscribe to a commodity model of sexuality, where…

Whereas if we were to take sex out of its box and play with it...

It would never become a collectors item to be flogged off on Trade Me.
I'll get back in my box now... No wait... that's not what I meant.
Damn it, where's my hat...
Digging deeper…

Apparently sex is this thing I have, possibly in some kind of box.

Tupperware?

Definitely see-through, right?

Thank you Emma, I like your analogy a lot.

Apparently sex is this thing I have, possibly in some kind of box.

Tupperware?

Is "don't argue with these people, you'll just end up driven to drink" a new perspective?

Thing is, they came over to my place and started the fight. I'm not supposed to argue with them at my own blog?

I'm not going to read Lucia's post, just as I'm not…

I presume Aotea Square has already been looked at and dismissed. Would it collapse under the weight? How about the yet-to-be-developed spaces at Britomart?

That was what the council originally wanted until it was hi-jacked by the twits. The Britomart area you mention is doing rather nicely with more space…

Hang about... Didn't we just spend 100 squillion on Queen St to make it People friendly? You know, with stuff for tourists and the like? Didn't the Council know about the RWC?

Well yes, but it's mostly a shopping street rather than a boozing street. And "closing a street to…

Can't stop giggling. That's not even cogent enough to be wrong.

I don't know. It has a certain je nes sais WTF...

Couldn't help myself. Went back.

Ditto. From Lucia's cogent analysis:

Giving men sex without expecting any sort of commitment is training them to become predators.

See? Apparently sex is this thing I have, possibly in some kind of box. And I can give it to a man, but I have…

Get a room in a Motel in one of the nicer parts of NZ, sit back and enjoy the News coverage of all the drunken revelry and resulting chaos of a badly organised fiasco.

What about the rest of us who, well, want to avoid the rugby? putting all the…

Craig Y

Take large amounts of caffeine immediately,
or failing that, chocolate, to wash the acrid
taste of sock con nincompoopery from your
ravaged throat!

Craig Y.

Key of course tries to twist that into blaming the diplomats rather than himself, craven McCully or the other yesterday's men of his cabinet. And we wonder where people get the idea that this…

Gawd. I was looking at Lucia's NZ Conservative post, and the comment underneath it.

Don't go there unless you're prepared to be seriously creeped out.

You also want to keep away from the comments under the stuff.co.nz article. I was amazed at how many commenters fully supported Haden. It must…

Hence the need for something: not sure whether Queens Wharf fits the bill, but just saying "let the exising bars handle it" isn't going to work

As I keep saying, I think what the ARC wants to do will fit the bill just fine.

The Viaduct works (and I use the word…

Or, let me paraphrase that, especially given dear little Lucia is scoping out this website and has just commented on it on that very thread...

Couldn't help myself. Went back. Explained the painfully obvious to those weirdos.

2. Appearing to state that young women who seek to hook up with sports stars for sexual fun "do so at their peril" because, hey, players be rapin'. – R

I heard it as appearing to state that if you come off second-best in your encounter with a rugby player…

I confess, I nicked it, but I can't remember where or who from.

My immediate thought was Hot Tub Time Machine, while pinned under a chair being inspected as to whether his arm is still attached Crispin Glover (God bless his soul) asks;

"Are you rapin'?"

For some reason the…

Craig Y

'cliche used to justify voicing of discredited, hackneyed and archaic unsubstantiated prejudices, usually voiced by an encapsulated religiously biased non-entity who has trouble dealing with…

unfortunately not. i just had a brief conversation with a young man involved at top level club rugby, who supports mr haden's statements completely. if it were ok to extrapolate from a single example,…

Really, though, don't his troglodyte and sock con defenders really highlight the vacuity of that favourite hackneyed right-wing cliche, 'political correctness?'

It looks like we can…

Gawd. I was looking at Lucia's NZ Conservative post, and the comment underneath it.

Wow! Scary people! Personally I think that's a strong case for not allowing people to comment anonymously or under pompous pseudonyms...
I would want to know who these people are so…

Thank you for this post Russell. I've been having, or rather attempting to have, a v frustrating debate with a couple of the bloggers from NZ Conservative who have defended Haden on a post I wrote yesterday about the matter.

Gawd. I was looking at Lucia's NZ Conservative post, and…

And it sounds like Haden and his ilk haven't changed all that much since 1981.

I agree – they are very much the old guard of the rugby/racing/beer NZ male stereotype. The good thing is New Zealand has changed a great deal since 1981 and mostly for the better. We…

Indeed, if they just get on and build the bloody thing, it'll have a built-in crowd in the fans who'll be using visiting cruise…

And if I were Bill English I'd cancel the folly of Auckland's 'party central', and save us all one day's borrowing from foreigners. How will Auckland fill a ghastly old shed on a distant…

I thought he was meant to be a media-savvy talent agent. Apparently not.

I note on Haden's talent agency Sporting Contacts site he says:

"We know this business inside out"
Andy Haden

he does seem to be turning it inside out for sure...

they seem to have…

I see Owen McShane, who stoutly defended Tony Veitch's right to buy his way out of a series of nasty assaults on his girlfriend, is at it again in Kiwiblog comments:
Someone once said “An ambassador is someone who lies abroad for his country.”
Andy obviously cannot be an Ambassador…

Notice the resemblance between the statements by Andy Haden & Owen McShane, and this blurt from a certain Sydney-based ayatollah:

__"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without…

To be honest, Tom, I don't give a shit if Deaker was "setting up" Haden. He's a grown-up who has to take responsibility for his actions, and their consequences.

I disagree about your lack of interest in Murray Deaker. Deaker is as big a hypocrite as anyone he seeks to…

But if Andy Haden can't understand that when you are appointed in an official capacity as an ambassador you should moderate your public utterances is entirely his own fault.

I thought he was meant to be a media-savvy talent agent. Apparently not.

He said the highest profile of all the ambassadors has effectively been forced to quit and he will be watching with interest to see what the remaining ambassadors do.

He said he hopes the media will follow their actions with as much interest as they have shown in…

As for Haden – he is entirely entitled to freely express his opinions, God knows they are shared by enough of his fellow New Zealanders.

He's not free to accuse anyone of committing a pretty damn serious criminal offence. Perhaps I'm totally out of the mainstream of public opinion here,…

Probably a more competent…

So the sheds of Queen's Wharf are not the hill to die on. They are just not worth it. They are an eyesore. [...] I rented for a few months an apartment on Princes Wharf that overlooked them.

Because when you…

Someone once said “An ambassador is someone who lies abroad for his country.”

Andy obviously cannot be an Ambassador…

the entire country is sick to death of it.

Are we not there yet? Please tell me it can't get worse?

Anyway, Saturday night is what it is all about. Don't care where everyone else goes to party, cause my garage grandstand and a result like that in the final…

But let us parse Haden's statements. They amount to:

1. Convicting the complainants in the Brooke case of concocting a rape complaint after the fact.

Which is actually a pretty serious offence — and if you extend that a little further, as has happened in other cases, so is extortion…

It's terrible, but oh how that line made me laugh.

I confess, I nicked it, but I can't remember where or who from.

And now, it's hard not to think that the reins should be handed to someone who wants the job less — and thus stands a better chance of getting it done before the entire country is sick to death of it.

Sounds like another job for Joyce. I've always been…

"because hey, players be rapin'"

It's terrible, but oh how that line made me laugh.