Posts by George Darroch
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Hard News: SpinCity, in reply to Angus Robertson,
Well aren’t you going to kill a lot of internet discussions with that sort of attitude.
I hope so.
ETA:
Giovanni Tiso has come up with a practical solution to this problem.
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Legal Beagle: On Consensus, in reply to Graeme Edgeler,
Hey, the Greens were opposition at the time :)
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Health services, for example: do they ‘produce’ health!? Still pretty important, and not something Mr Joyce has (yet) found a way to export…
Except, they can represent an export, in the same way that tourism does. A friend recently completed extensive gender reassignment surgery in in Thailand. Every dollar of his represented foreign income for Thailand.
We'd be hard pressed to compete on that platform. We can't offer high quality services at a low enough cost. But in theory, it's possible.
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I really enjoyed the Mint Chicks cover art. Seeing the work of these former art-school punks was like candy, enticing you into the world they'd created. Octagon Octagon Octagon in particular stands out to me, coming as it did early in their career when their presence hadn't been established.
More Flying Nun, of course, as McClennan notes, but I think the encouragement of that particular canon of creation helped bring into fruition a lot of these [FN] works.
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Hard News: Competing for Auckland, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
Wellington won’t get long haul flights even if we have a runway long enough for the Space Shuttle.
Incidentally, Auckland International was a designated emergency landing runway for the Space Shuttle while it was still operational. It's one of the longer runways in this part of the world. Unfortunately, it's not suitable for taking off from...
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Interesting commentary from Wayne Mapp. It's always good to hear honest commentary on the thoughts of a decision-maker. I think the problem isn't so much the conclusions he reaches, as the premises he is working from - a result of New Zealand lacking the capacity (and will, but will is irrelevant without the capacity) to critically interpret the intelligence he is being fed. If it is seen as straightforward, rather than the product of interests, biases, and an incomplete ability to get correct information in the fog of complex societies and war, then it is almost certain that wrong decisions will be made, often seriously wrong ones.
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Hard News: Dressing for the Road, in reply to Keir Leslie,
If you work a job where you have to wear steel caps, or overalls, or a uniform, this kind of discussion is quite different.
My Dad rode did a daily mountain bike from Mangere to the Newmarket bridge project in his construction workwear. It's possible.
We're a bit mad in my family, but still.
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Hard News: Dressing for the Road, in reply to Russell Brown,
That pannier has improved my cycling life a lot. As you say, flat back so it carries paperwork well (and looks presentable for meetings), works pretty well as a backpack, and just swallows up whatever you put in it. I can easily come back from the supermarket with far more than I’d want to carry in a backpack. I had to get a rear carrier that cost a bit more because it had to be the wider version for disc brake hubs, but it’s all been money well spent.
Though it isn't clothing, it certainly affects your choices. Suddenly you've got somewhere to put a jacket and gloves if the sun pours out, or to store one in anticipation of rain and wind.
You also get things off your back, so you're more comfortable and not sweating on the back so much. A sturdy rear basket does the job reasonably too, but the higher centre of balance can take a little getting used to.
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Hard News: Dressing for the Road, in reply to JackElder,
As regards cycle-specific clothing, my number one pick would be a good rain jacket. Yes, you can ride in a normal raincoat; but anything cut normally will tend to bunch up at the top of your thighs when you’re cycling, which is pretty uncomfortable. Cycling jackets are cut high at the front to avoid this. Plus, y’know, bright orange.
And longer at the back. It's not as much fun with a wet bum.
ETA: you can get them in colours which are relatively high vis, or with small reflective strips, such that you don't look like a road-worker.
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I used to love record stores. I'd wag school during the late 90s, catch a bus into the city and hang out in Real Groovy and BPM, and other stores for hours, listening and occasionally buying things. Those were genuinely pleasurable days. A couple years later I moved to Wellington, and Slow Boat and Real Groovy Wellington filled a gap between lectures, and helped me accumulate boxes of CDs - I haven't listened to a CD in the last two years.
Unfortunately, I crossed the ditch to Canberra, and was squarely wedged between a JB Hi-Fi (ew) and a local "indie" store which the locals feted but was as generic and uninteresting as anything else. That was the end for me. That, and living in increasingly exotic locations and seeing the physicality of music as an impediment to my life rather than an improvement.