Posts by George Darroch
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"We attempted to go to a rugby game together, but we didn't because it was too cold and rainy, and we wanted noodles instead."
I understand this, completely. Although I like rugby, I like noodles more. I should say something intelligent or witty, but I'm just happy to leave this here.
A review of 'The First Asian AB'.
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I lost the ability to tell the difference when I lived in London – and gained the ability to tell a North Dublin accent from a South Dublin one.
I lost the ability to understand much of New Zealand speech. In Australia. I'd have to struggle and strain often to make sense of what people were saying. But then, I could listen to someone and fairly accurately tell you what part of Sydney they were from, despite having never lived there, and only been in Australia four years. Not everyone has these experiences, of course.
Dropping in this wonderful photoessay, What are Young Chinese Thinking? because it deserves to be shared, and this is a slightly less arbitrary discussion than most.
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I'm surprised nobody's mentioned being 'well adjusted' yet. Giovanni deconstructs an ideal that disempowers. (It's typically interesting, as is the response it's stirred).
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the downside of decades of successful pop cultural imperialism
It's gone beyond that, and become a bad habit, a perpetual laziness reached into to justify New Zealand and make people feel better about their own inadequacies.
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And if someone had told me that in that two years I would have hugged them. The dissonance between the ‘home’ of the mind and the ‘home’ of the real world Aotearoa NZ was just something weird.
Yeah, I've been back seven months after four years away. I feel disloyal for not feeling more comfortable here (though I have no intention of being the complaining ex-expat). Not everything is difficult - some things are very easy. Others aren't.
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I'll be the one to say that I don't identify with much of this. Well, perhaps having a small number of things that are precious to you. I don't know if it's age - I am young, after all. For the last few years I've lived under the 20kg weight limit (and that includes climbing gear and a 50m rope...). I knocked my possessions down to less than 50 things last year. Of course, if I had a spouse and children, the calculus would be different, but I'm not sure how much.
My own parents lived from a van during the 1970s, a single suitcase in Hong Kong during the early 80s, and an entire family in a four door Cortina with a trailer during the early 90s. (We also lived in houses, and accumulated things too, of course). It may simply be culturally inculcated.
I've been taking cues from Sterling's last Viridian note (adapted and adjusted elsewhere):
..divide your current possessions into four major categories.
Beautiful things.
Emotionally important things.
Tools, devices, and appliances that efficiently perform a useful function.
Everything else.It may be too much for some, but as a guideline, I think it works rather well.
Roots are strong, people are important, but things are transient.
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learning something...
I'd welcome more detail about their reasoning, and about how this compares with previous publicity that the strip would be made pedestrian-only.
...or perhaps not.
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I was in town Saturday night. I had a very good time. After the game, the streets and bars were filled with happy people. Even the Australians were cheerful, considering (they need to drink for a while first). At 3am, when I was calling it quits, things were still lively, and the rows of portaloos provided for excessive crowds were particularly convenient.
Not everyone's idea of paradise, but it you couldn't deny the atmosphere. And having roads closed meant that people could amble, not having to worry about shuttling from one destination to the next. Nor worry about a constant stream of cars. I suspect that every weekend will be like this, with the semis and final particularly so.
If it means that Auckland (New Zealand, to some extent), is learning how to run a party properly, then this is an entirely good thing. I can see these roads closed again, and perhaps Courtenay Place being pedestrianised when people turn out during big events.
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Who plays rugby in the USA? I'm aware of some naval teams, and some interest among the Pacific Island population, but does it go any further than this?
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Field Theory: Four Years Ago, in reply to Russell Brown,
This front has been forecast to hit Auckland on Sunday morning for days now, so everyone involved with Friday’s events has been able to stare at the bullet they dodged
I think it's the other way around, actually. Friday was extraordinary. Had it been a normal afternoon; cool, overcast, and slightly wet, many fewer people would have been inclined to head in and join festivities. Today, we show the visitors what Auckland is really like.
And also disliking the choice of black. It would be like our soccer team wearing orange, or the cricket team wearing yellow and green. It just doesn't make sense.