Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Staying Alive, in reply to Lilith __,
When I am riding along the road and past parked cars I treat every door as one about to open. People talk about defensive driving but defensive riding is far more important
But the cyclist in this case did avoid the door…and was thereby run over by a truck. Evasive manoeuvres only work if there’s somewhere safe to go
Sorta. She collided with the driver, who was standing, and his door, and bounced off them. It was a weird accident in part because the truck the poor woman went under was going so bloody slowly. The driver says he almost caught her as she went down.
I do strongly subscribe to the defensive riding philosophy, especially in riding past parked cars. Being in the right isn't much help if you get doored.
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Market report. Avondale, that is.
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Hard News: Getting to the bottom of…, in reply to WH,
Yeah. You’ve got hope it works out. Things haven’t been looking too good for the average US worker though. In some ways Apple is a good example of what a high technology society can achieve. There must be more Teslas and Jobs out there, which is quite exciting really.
The prospects are still good for a new Jobs, less so for a new Tesla.
One issue is the one Jobs raised with Obama: training. The Western world does not train many engineers now.
The other is now of mass. It is hard in Western economies to match the extraordinary mobilisation of resources we see in China or Vietnam, because (as Keir pointed out) those countries are industrialising and the West has long since done that.
Even Jobs had the benefit of being adjacent to actual manufacturing as a kid. He wouldn't now.
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Hard News: Review: Lana Del Rey, 'Born…, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Then you go on to say what it is derivative of.
as an interesting take on 2012 pop music:
Eh?
It is 2012. This is an interesting take on what pop music might sound like this year. I'm not sure derivative means what you think it does ;-)
But yeah, I don't expect everyone to like Born to Die. And it does quote numerous pop tropes (and the odd book). There are valid criticisms of it: it's just that "derivative" isn't one.
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Hard News: Staying Alive, in reply to Lilith __,
a video on well-designed roundabouts in, I believe, the Netherlands. No barriers, no controls, just roundabouts set up so that it’s clear to all road users that it’s a shared space,
here’s one:
How lovely. I just sort of zoned out watching the flow for a while there.
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Hard News: Staying Alive, in reply to Richard Wain,
Can I just point out, in the context of running red lights on a bike, that traffic lights actually don’t pay attention to cyclists. Try it sometime – if there’s no other traffic (and it’s not that particular kind of light system that just switches automatically on cue) then the cyclist could sit there forever without ever getting a green light.
Here's a tip (originally from Cycling in Auckland): the lines cut in the road surface at intersections are where the metal sensors are. If you align your tyres along one of those lines, it should be enough to trip the sensor.
Works for me.
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Hard News: Staying Alive, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
I thought your comment was fine in the context of the robust exchange of views you describe. Let us move on now :-)
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Hard News: Staying Alive, in reply to Chris Waugh,
I was actually really impressed last time I was in NZ by all the new cycling infrastructure, because I remember there being basically none, and a bike is very high on my list of necessary purchases when we move back.
Point worth making.
In Auckland, the greatest distance of cycleway in the last few years has been made by NZTA, which is obliged to build new cycleway alongside new motorway. They sometimes cop out – leaving the huge climb up to Hillsborough (iirc) Road on the SH20 cycleway bugger it as a commuter route – but it’s a good thing. When the Waterview extension is built, I’ll be able to ride rather quickly across New Zealand.
Council is positive about this stuff, and there are people like Christopher Dempsey at community board level. I think someone has to bite the bullet and recognise the special character of Tamaki Drive. It’s 10km of flat, scenic road to places where people actually live. It has to be made safe for multiple uses.
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Hard News: Crowds and Communities: an…, in reply to nzlemming,
You going to toss your hat in the ring for Neil Walter's job? ;-)
I feel my role is more of a creative one than a job of governance.
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Another listen to Born To Die while preparing dinner.
Anyone who says this is derivative, same-old pop music has not actually listened to the record. It contains bits of everything from MOR pop ballad to hip-hop. Things jump in and out of the mix like a dub production. There is an orchestra.
Of the later songs on the album, ’Million Dollar Man’ is a swaggering retro ballad that suggests she actually can sing, at least in the studio.
‘This Is What Makes Us Girls’, about being one of the hot girls at school, has an amazing, dubstep-tempo chorus that Rebecca Black could sing.
Indeed, I keep feeling like this thing is one big dubstep remix in waiting. Pop is slowing down.
I agree with the reviewers who suggest that the character is only intermittently carried through. If this was meant to be a literary concept album, their attention wandered. But as an interesting take on 2012 pop music: yeah, I just keep liking this.
