Random Play by Graham Reid

On truckies. I'm surprised nobody in government mooted the idea of a 10c petrol tax rise in order to keep heavy truck RUCs down. Because that's what it amounts to - *somebody* has to pay.

And I see that the people of Great Barrier
are demonstrating at having to pay "road tax on their diesel generator fuel". Only, they don't. Thats the whole point of road user charges.

On Real Groovy:
I know it's iconic. But I find the whole atmosphere in there a bit off. It's partly that the place is plastered with signs warning you against various forms of rip-off - a kind of school-like "customers must not" mentality. And you can't buy a ticket and a record at the same counter, so I'm less inclined to buy something else when I go in there for tickets.

Plus there's an awful lot of dross surrounding the odd gem, so it's a big process to find stuff. I miss the old-style DJ-oriented record shop, where the counter person would sus what you were into and hand out armfuls of vinyls to listen to. NOTR, for instance. Digital downloads aren't the same :-(

Speaking of preserving vinyl treasures, Graham, did you ever get your low-cost-vinyl-to-digital preservation system working?

If you think Real Groovy's grim where you are, Rich, you ought to try the Chch shop. Acres of second-hand bargain tables that don't change for weeks and new release sections that ... don't change for weeks. Hardly ever a soul about, except for glum teenagers browsing Marilyn Manson T-shirts (big market down here for that, admittedly). I haven't tried Dunedin's, but pretty sure the Auckland store is the only one that really works.

Plus there's an awful lot of dross surrounding the odd gem, so it's a big process to find stuff. I miss the old-style DJ-oriented record shop, where the counter person would sus what you were into and hand out armfuls of vinyls to listen to.

And that's fine, as far as it goes, but I'll translate it into a retail market I know a little more about -- bookstores. I think Unity Books in Auckland and Wellington are also (gag) iconic booksellers. Because a more 'curated' retail experience can be wonderful if you taste is in-sync with the buyers and staff. If not, not so much. I'm not saying Unity in Auckland is a bad store, but if (for the sake of argument) your taste in political books is a little wider than Noam Chomsky, and the fashionable 'Chimpy McBushitler ate my kitten' tome de jour you're really out of luck.

Though I've got to admit, walking past the new Louis Vutton/Gucci stores on Queen Street the sterile shopfitting and staff with that 'fuck off, peasant' vibe is done to perfection.

And if you can’t be bothered with the boring maths then Aucklanders might like to stand on Symonds Street on any given day, somewhere around the university where scores if not hundreds of students are crossing the road. That this narrow, pedestrian-heavy, tree-lined road through what is now the centre of the sprawling campus should be a thoroughfare for massive articulated trucks is a dangerous disgrace.

And look at the state of the road there: I doubt it is the gentle step of students’ feet, their motorbikes, or the traffic of Jap imports which is causing the damage. In user-pays land you have to wonder.

How do we get the trees to pay?

I was wondering, given that honking your horn was taken as a sign of support, just exactly how you were supposed to show your displeasure of the truckie protest and how anyone else would know. Projectile weapons?

But, given the breathless coverage from most of the media "I'm sitting in the cab of this big rig as we cruise at 2 km/h through Mt Wellington", I reckon that Cycle Action needs to think much bigger than just clogging up the Harbour Bridge. Gridlock the whole city and then everyone will love ya!

How hard is it to be to the left of Helen Clark?

Her historic hero is Olly Cromwell.

Does anyone know why, after Transit built a no-doubt expensive motorway spur to the port, trucks still use Symonds St?

Is it just so the truckies can ogle the students - Auckland Uni boys aren't *that* hot...

Maybe I'm a bit of a pedant, but I still have trouble with the use of the word "iconic". In its original sense an ikon pointed to something else (usually greater than the thing eg "God"). So something that is "iconic" should or ought to have that same sense within it.
Real Groovy is a great store in terms of what it provides, but to call a shop, even an on-line one "iconic" when its sole purpose is to point customers to itself is really stretching things.
Mind you that goes for its use when applied to various people or Paua-shell houses as well.

"unless they're damaged, or they're by Paul Holmes, we'll take anything."

Classic...

Does anyone know why, after Transit built a no-doubt expensive motorway spur to the port, trucks still use Symonds St?

Not that I was a student at the time, but I imagine that truck traffic has reduced a lot since the port link was built. Trucks are common, but it's entirely possible to have several light phases pass without a truck going through. At a guess, they're heading to destinations around the outer-CBD - Mt Roskill, etc. Or possibly taking an alternative route to Onehunga/Auckland Airport, given that the Market Rd offramp is now a nightmare to navigate even in a car.

Is it just so the truckies can ogle the students - Auckland Uni boys aren't *that* hot...

Oi. I resemble that remark!