Posts by Heather Gaye

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  • Yellow Peril: cops and robbers, qilai…,

    Apparently wanker A's brother had been chased down the street by "a car full of coconuts."

    It still astounds me that there are people who use the word "coconut" in conversations with people they've never met. Racism is one thing, but surely there's an element of stupidity in disparaging the prevailing demographic to someone that lives in the area.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Hard News: More party pill palaver,

    Perhaps instead of fining people who are caught being stupid with substances, the court could direct them to attend compulsory drug education courses that cost (and paid for by the offender) an equivalent amount? Directed to their particular thing.

    That reminds me of some anecdote I read once, about a project manager that punished her children by sitting them in front of a lengthy powerpoint presentation about their bad behaviour & its results. Apparently it was very effective.

    Also, @Kyle:

    " So which is the bigger problem?
    " And which is easier to ban?
    While not disagreeing with your main point, I'm not sure that LPG is actually easier to ban.

    I suspect that was the point that James was making - that convenience is a far greater factor in banning substances than genuine risk.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Hard News: Inauspicious,

    If its the latter I hear the Destiny Church runs a right hand de-programming workshop. Their motto is love the person, hate the hand.

    ...in direct literal adherence to Matthew 5:30.
    "And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." (NIV)

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Hard News: Inauspicious,

    FWIW, the urbandictionary entries for pakeha are in a similar vein.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Summer Holiday,

    I certainly didn't enjoy it much when I worked in retail and we didn't have any children around on Xmas day.

    Yeah, I guess that nails it - the presence of all the bad elements & absence of the things that make it really good. I definitely noticed a change in my own attitude to the Christmas lead-up this year; every time I walked into St Lukes I felt sort of polluted - like I was buying in to something crass & tinny. My heart reached out to every shop assistant that had to put up with ugly Whitneyesque caterwauling about presents (WHITCOULLS..). I guess the hateration is just a backlash against the fake enthusiasm of trashy Christmas advertising, and the resulting frantic consumption, rather than Christmas itself. And fair do's.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Summer Holiday,

    Back at work now - my choice, although I was expecting/hoping for a quieter office this week. Staff numbers don't seem to have diminished at all. Most distressed to discover that every coffee stop between me and my work is closed until next week, unless I can spare 15 minutes to walk to Roasted.

    Spent christmas with family, alpacas and a slobbery labrador. Languid country living - large deck, patchy dial-up internet, limited-to-zero cellphone reception, no traffic to negotiate, mostly-decent weather. Ham, chicken, salad, an entire eye fillet, mountains of home baking, traditional christmas pudding with wishes stirred in, wine, beer. Watched The Wedding and Outrageous Fortune. Watched Labyrinth (gift from sister). Got to feed alpacas every day. Got spat at every other day. Read 5 books from mother's Whitcoulls-top-100-dominated library. Was actually disappointed when brother took family home, including 3-year-old & 6-month-old nephews. Not quite so disappointed to see back of lovestruck sister, due to much (I suspect somewhat deliberate) PDA.

    Spent new year in an Auckland suburb dominated by bush, after being rescued from bus station by friends. Oddly identical country living to family farm. Didn't quite get hang of new year junk-food-fest - roasted chicken & kumara. Watched Labyrinth. Got awesome view of sky tower fireworks. Pancakes and beer for new year's breakfast.

    Is it just me or have there been a *lot* of bloggers complaining about how much they hate christmas? I get mighty stressed in the month leading up to christmas, but the actual holiday is usually pretty ace.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Who's the real Dick, then?,

    Oh I see, she only drew attention to the "irrelevant" low pregnancy rate out of selfless concern for teenage Asians' health.

    ...immediately after noting the importance of contraception. So, it's very important (for their health) that these foolish Asians learn to use contraception, but it's irrelevant that apparently they're already much better at doing so.

    I love the editor's note at the end of the letter; DC asserts she never used the phrase "Asian crime wave"; ed points out that the phrase was, in fact, "gathering crime tide". Hahahaha, buuurrrn! I hope DC's twisty knickers ride right up her arse.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Yellow Peril: the identity game,

    Just an interesting (to me) tangent... Some people have asserted that New Zealand is the sum total of their ethnic identity, and have said they feel no connection to their European ancestry.

    So why is it that this only seems to be expressed by white kiwis; that is, the feeling that they're no longer part of the legacy that conceived them? I can't really think of any non-white race for whom a significant percentage wish to abandon their heritage, at least not without good reason. Perhaps south america...how long ago did the spanish colonise? Is it the lot of the primary colonisers that they lose their original identity in favour of contriving a new one?

    Does that make any sense? Just somewhere along the line the question in my head moved from being "should new zealander be considered a new ethnicity?" to "what on earth did we do with our old ones?"

    BTW Manakura, my gmail.com address is my name, without the space. Would be good to hear from you!

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Cracker: Rate my Date,

    I dutifully called and I also dutifully listened while he told me that he was going to cancel the upcoming date

    Urgh, that's the most horrible thing about guys calling it off - they just keep talking. On and on and on! Dude! Just say "sorry, I'm not interested", I really don't give a flying monkey's about your career issues or latent homosexual tendencies!

    Granted, it also irritates me when they just don't bother to call. I don't mind getting a self-important dump speech so much since it means I don't have to wonder whether I should feel bad about dating someone else.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

  • Yellow Peril: the identity game,

    having active family/iwi affiliations is by no means unique

    Yeah, I didn't mean to suggest that Maori have the monopoly on family - just that actively engaging with one's iwi seems to be the most conclusive additional measure of "being Maori" (alongside blood); in the same way that, say, a Jewish person would actively engage in the Jewish community. Maybe "involvement" is the magic word - be it political, social or domestic. OR perhaps I'm mistakenly trying to apply my New-Zealander-related material connection...dang...

    On the bright side, with some study, and a bit of effort, you could become indigenous, as well as endemic :-)

    Heh, yup, I reckon I should quit my whining and just apply myself a little! Learning the language would certainly be a valuable step.

    Morningside • Since Nov 2006 • 533 posts Report

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