Posts by Robyn Gallagher
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On the subject of diamonds, I'm very impressed by this 1982 article in the Atlantic Monthly about the history of diamonds.
It turns out the the diamond engagement ring is essentially a 20th century invention, helped along by clever advertising courtesy of the De Beers diamond cartel.
I've always thought it would be better to get a local jewellery designer to create a ring for you than to just buy some generic bling.
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I wonder how many of the free beers went to Public Address regulars and how many went to lucky friends and workmates of PA regulars who were suddenly ordered to "OMG! Text this to get free beer! Free beer! Do it! Now! Right now!!!"
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I'm really impressed with the State Services Commission's blog, but what impresses me the most is simply that they're not afraid to blog. The blog entries read like they're written by real people and haven't been filtered through a PR person. It seems hard to think that I'd enjoy reading the SSC blog, but it is actually rather enjoyable to read.
(Though if I were to pick on anything it would be their motto, "Dedicated to delivering world class State Services". "Word class" is really just another way of saying "quite good", but it comes coupled with a bit of national shame, like we're only good if we measure up to other countries. But surely state services, by their very nature, should be fine-tuned to the needs of the state and not a one-size-fits all international template? Mental!)
But, yeah, a great blog, especially from a government department.
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We are in Southland so that Jennifer can run her diabolical brain/language experiments on the hapless Southlanders.
The linguistic geek in me is very excited by this news. I see that Riverton has a Church Street and a Herbert Street, perfect for the Southland R. I eagerly await her findings!
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Oh, and can someone write me a script to replace all instances of "your mum" with "a mainstream consumer"?
Well, I had a go, but after it disastrously ruined my database of "your mum" jokes in testing, I decided to scrap it :(
"__A mainstream consumer__ is so fat, when I told her to haul arse, she had to make two trips."
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Re "your mum". Looking at the original quote...
They're probably not deals for your mum, but for communications-happy households they're a welcome innovation.
Ok, so "your mum" was being used a shorthand for a light internet user, but you know what's sort of strange about it? Well, mums normally comes with a dad. What about his internet?
Yeah, there are divorcees and widows, but it's kind of strange to think that your mum would be on dial-up in one room and over in the next room your dad would have slick broadband. (And that would indicate a more internet savvy household than the original "your mum" quote intended).
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The pash! (which actually comes before the fight):
Potentially NSFW.
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Torchwood is great! Series 2 started with a bang - Captain Jack discovers his arch nemesis, Captain John (played by James Marsters of the 'Buffy' universe) has come to town. They have an awesome fight in a bar, culminating with a great big man pash.
It's a silly, over-the-top series, but that's why I like it. And this season sees the return of Martha Jones from Doctor Who. (Wait, has she actually made an appearance on NZ TV yet? It's hard to keep up...)
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H Block. Where a couple of pretentious friends and I formed the Beer and Poetry club, drank jugs and read the odd poem.
Ah, that nickname never made it into my social circle. (Obviously didn't stay long enough at uni). I think it was mainly called "The Hillcrest" (pronounced "Hoowcress") or the Hilly to my group.
But, wtf, demolished! I saw the Mutton Birds play there once. A lonely man tried to pick up a friend of mine. After the gig he was hanging around and said it had been, "Quite good. Nothing like a bit of heavy metal." Oh dear.
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Obviously you didn't go to Waikato Uni then...
Of course they knocked down H block a few years back, place hasn't been the same since.
Knocked down? H block was never built at all!
The S-shaped C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L blockstravaganza was planned in the 1960s, but since then the building code had changed, somehow prohibiting that many buildings all linked together.
They say, sometimes, when you're strolling down from Hillcrest Road and the sun is at the right angle and the wind blows just so, sometimes you can see the eerie ghost of H block shimmering above the grass, and you might hear it whisper, "Build me! Realise my brutalist vision!"