Island Life: Symptoms persist
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There is no physical barrier from the clipons to the centre-half, there were up to 5000 people there, and some of those people had just demonstrated their willingness to wonder out on to open, active motorway in the interests of protest.
I don't think shutting that down is necessarily quite the conspiracy it's being made out to be.Please note thatI support the intent of the protest, and am really impressed by the ongoing efforts of the Getacross crowd to make access a reality. NZTA were clearly dicks both leading up to and on the day and entirely should have allowed the protest to go ahead.
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Please note thatI support the intent of the protest,
Does anyone know what is happening with regards to the Hikoi? Want to get through the city but thought I'd wait a bit.
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Hi Jolisa, I think you’re right. There is a continuum of bad things done by people in power, and it runs from Things That Make You Go Hmm right up to Things That Make You Go Dead. My two cents worth: not being able to walk or cycle across the Auckland Harbour Bridge is insufficiently advanced along that continuum to justify civil disobedience.
But perhaps one had to be there. Let’s hear from those that were. When you pushed past the people with blue uniforms asking you to stop, were you thinking: “A fundamental breach of human rights is occurring such that I have no alternative but to break the law, conscious though I am of the seriousness of such action”
Or was it more like: “Cycling good. Police silly. Woo-hoo!”
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Neither. My answer is here.
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Or was it more like: “Cycling good. Police silly. Woo-hoo!”
What we have here is a Dionysian upwelling of two-wheeled elán as the curvy round-wheeled cycles (representing the feminine principle) paradoxically push through the flimsy blue-clothed representatives of Apollonian order.
/Paglia
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I have just this second got off the phone with Leighton Smith on Newstalk ZB. Calls are running hot this morning from irate motorists, so I thought I'd try and add a bit of balance from someone who was there. He let me say my piece (much the same as my comments above) but made zero effort to engage with me. When I'd finished talking he said thanks and moved on to his next call.
Weird, I was expecting him to want to talk to someone who was there, as opposed to those who weren't. Silly me.
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What we have here is a Dionysian upwelling of two-wheeled elán as the curvy round-wheeled cycles (representing the feminine principle) paradoxically push through the flimsy blue-clothed representatives of Apollonian order.
I must confess that was going through my mind also. But I had the accent in a different place.
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the flimsy blue-clothed representatives of Apollonian order.
You mean, the erect but ultimately impotent blue-clothed representatives of Apollonian order.
/Paglia(You could probably have squeezed Monica Lewinksy and Mandy Rice-Davies in there as well, on a tandem perhaps).
Andrew, quote of the week for this one:
There is a continuum of bad things done by people in power, and it runs from Things That Make You Go Hmm right up to Things That Make You Go Dead.
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You mean, the erect but ultimately impotent blue-clothed representatives of Apollonian order.
/Paglia
(You could probably have squeezed Monica Lewinksy and Mandy Rice-Davies in there as well, on a tandem perhaps).But where is my Madonna reference? There can be no Paglia-ism without someone nattering on annoyingly about Madonna, surely?
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I had the accent in a different place.
A different and of course correct place. Portuguese is taking over the bit of my brain that had French in it.
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[re Greenham Common] Even if it was all eventually sorted out by Watership Down guy having a word in the ear of a Lord or two
I actually thought that what happened was that a certain Mikhail Gorbachev decided that attempting World Communist Domination wasn't worth the candle, and hence negotiated away their missiles with the Americans. Leaving Greenham Common and its nukes redundant.
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I read that post David, thanks. Can I just say that some of my best friends are cyclists (oil companies not so much), so in a general sense: all power to your sprocket.
Still, I think I missed the bit that justified breaking the law. Could you direct me to it? Sorry to bang on.
As for the Paglia stuff: Crikey. I had no idea I was that deep.
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Let’s hear from those that were. When you pushed past the people with blue uniforms asking you to stop, were you thinking: “A fundamental breach of human rights is occurring such that I have no alternative but to break the law, conscious though I am of the seriousness of such action”
Or was it more like: “Cycling good. Police silly. Woo-hoo!”
To borrow a phrase "Because it's there".
It was an interesting study in crowd dynamics and the "hero" effect on crowds. I was angered by what should have been a pretty simple 50th birthday celebration became incredibly politicised which takes a remarkable degree of incompetence or cynicism. I was also at the same time a bit nervous because it had become so political. In the event it was a question of following the first ones over the barricades and I did it because I could. I usually wear my heartrate monitor when I'm riding and I was interested to note that when I reached the top my heart rate was some 15-20 beats higher than I would normally expect. Judging by the other cyclists there was an enormous amount of adrenaline pumping around.
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Nick has already described how police and transit DIRECTED people into the centre that is across two lanes of traffic. That is borne out by my discussions with other cyclists who were on the bridge. Why? I don't usually subscribe to conspiracy theories as incompetence explains 99% of most cock ups but I'm very suspicious given that the Auckland marathon runs across the clipons and no-one who crossed the barriers made any attempt to go to the centre lanes until directed.
I mean to ask the Transit Board about this but very helpfully their email addresses are not on the Transit website.
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3410,
But where is my Madonna reference?
I'd like another pre-Madonna reference.
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For the people who were there: was there a noticeable "swaying effect" on the clip-ons? If they can handle the marathon, surely they can handle a few thousand casual walkers?
And how perilous does that railing feel when you're walking next to it (it looks low in the pictures)?
Oh, and: does anyone know what form the 30-year plan for cycle/pedestrian access takes? Is it a takeover of current lanes (middle or outer?), or yet another clip-on, or an aerial path above the roadway like the Brooklyn Bridge, or suspended paths under the bridge, or what?
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I've noticed swaying each time I've run it. The railing doesn't feel at all perilous.
Yesterday I felt no swaying, but we were in the centre lane, so I couldn't make a direct comparison.
(Doesn't it require moving in rhythm to create a hazard? Middle class white folk are not especially known for that talent...)
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was there a noticeable "swaying effect" on the clip-ons?
Short answer: No. Long answer: what David said (esp the bit about the majority being White Middle Class)
But where is my Madonna reference? There can be no Paglia-ism without someone nattering on annoyingly about Madonna, surely?
there were lots of pointy orange traffic cones...
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Middle class white folk
Anyone want to speculate on whether that's the reason for the mild police presence and response?
(Actually, next time a bunch of mild mannered protestors is in danger of being whacked, the bridge crossing might set a helpful precedent.)
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I don't think it works so well if you're standing in the way of a footy match.
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does anyone know what form the 30-year plan for cycle/pedestrian access takes?
I'd be willing to bet good money that it takes the form of a basic two-step process?
Step 1, now: We can't let you across the bridge now - we'll do it when we rebuild it in 30 years.
Step 2, in 30 years: We still can't let you across the bridge - we need all the twelve lanes for traffic, it'd be too expensive to build a dedicated lane for walkers/cyclists.
Seriously, this has the smell of "yeah, we'll right onto that one, sir, working on it hard now..." about it.
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Seriously, this has the smell of "yeah, we'll right onto that one, sir, working on it hard now..." about it.
Yep. And I imagine any actual blueprints are on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying "Beware of The Leopard"...
/Adams
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Oh, happy Towel Day everyone.
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Oh, happy Towel Day everyone.
OMG, serendipity! I had no idea. Excellent.
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Cycling in the misty rain of Christchurch yestie I was over taken by a jogger - oh the shame.
Does the Auckland City ad "Big - Little City" cyclist wear a helmet or hat? I can't tell & do tend to cycle at a similar speed.
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