Posts by webweaver
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So glad to hear your voice again Emma. Kia kaha. I cannot imagine what it must have been like and how you still must feel. Virtual hugs from me.
One thing I didn't realise until today was that the old plugin phones (not the hand-held ones) work when the power's out because they don't need a power supply. Telecom are collecting them from people to send down to ChCh.
I also realised that I should really have my cellphone on me at all times, instead of randomly somewhere else in the house. And that having a stash of cash would be useful too.
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Hard News: Again: Is everyone okay?, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Can we have some clarification as to what is meant by “5.20 pm: There are reports that Brighton and Lyttelton are “unliveable”.”
I hope they don’t mean “Unsurvivable”A couple of hours ago on the telly they had a phone report from a former Close Up journalist who was in Lyttelton. I think he said he'd walked there over the hill along the old settler route (I don't know the geography but I think that's what he said).
He said he was walking along the main street of Lyttelton and that many buildings appeared to have sustained damage. He spoke with a military guy (from a navy ship in Lyttelton harbour?) who said he had personnel on the ground there assessing the situation but who felt that they might be of more help in ChCh central and was expecting to be deployed there at some point.
The reporter said there didn't seem to be heaps of people around when he was walking down the main street in Lyttelton.
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Although I, too, don't want to see more people lose their jobs, I still blame Borders for causing the demise of Dymocks in Wellington, so from that perspective I'm feeling slightly schadenfreudish at the moment.
These days I do Unity Books for new novels (because they love books) and Arty Bees for old books (because they love books) and Whitcoulls for wrapping paper, the odd birthday card and puzzle magazines. No books. They don't love books. And Borders not at all (for the aforementioned reason).
For any tech book or specialist title of any kind there is NO WAY I would buy a book from any New Zealand book store because they are insanely expensive.
I Just compared Information is Beautiful (David McCandless - awesome Webstock presentation) from various sources (all prices calculated in NZ$):
Amazon US (but it's out of stock) - $21.42 + p&p
Amazon UK - $21.92 + free p&p
Book Depository - $31.19 + free p&p
Good Books - $42.61 incl p&p
Whitcoulls - $64.95
Borders - website's down so I can't check.Basically it costs around three times the price to buy a tech book in NZ as it does to buy it in the UK and get it shipped here. Much as I'd like to support NZ businesses, I cannot justify that amount of extra moolah every time I want to buy a web book.
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About 10 years ago when I was 30-something an older friend of mine advised me to get my long-ish hippy-ish hair cut shorter as it would be more age-appropriate. I of course immediately switched to rebellious-teenager mode and vowed to do nothing of the sort.
Fast forward to a year ago when I saw a photo of myself in the Dom Post and thought “Oh. Deary me. Something Must Be Done about that hair!” I scooted off to Buoy as fast as possible and took the plunge after oooh maybe 15 years of pretty much the exact same hairstyle. And it looks brilliant! (IMNSHO).
For me, the problem was twofold. Firstly my natural curls had been getting pulled kinda straight on top of my head due to the sheer weight of hair, which made it look very flat and thin on top (no volume). This is what I saw when I looked at my photo. Secondly, as Trinny and Susanna regularly opine, when your face starts to sag a bit and you have long hair, on some people (including me) the length of the hair can seem to pull your face down even more.
I came out of Buoy with much shorter, curlier, bouncier, funkier hair – and a new colour. Up until that point I had been curious about (and open to) the going grey thing, but on reflection decided I was over it, and that a nice rich shade of brown would do me the world of good. And I’m entirely prepared to keep on colouring it in more and more radical colours (as the grey increases underneath and it looks less and less “natural”) until I pop me clogs at the age of 100.
I love my new hair not because my friend would think it more age-appropriate (because actually, it isn’t really - and I would never dream of doing anything for that reason anyway), but because I think I look way better for it, and it’s given me more self-confidence about my appearance than I’d had for a while. I reckon it’s taken 10 years off me, which is completely fab.
As for showing my cleavage, well – it’s never been something I’m comfortable doing, although I secretly think I have a pretty good chestal region, but I have FINALLY recovered from my going-on-10-years of drab grey T-shirts over drab grey long-sleeved T-shirts and gone back to a much more colourful and slightly more revealing wardrobe. Hooray! I can thank a holiday in the UK and my sister’s encouragement to GO SHOPPING (something I almost never do here) for that.
And finally… my biggest age-appropriate wardrobe question would probably be “at what age should I really start thinking about taking out the nose-ring?” and my answer to myself is “sometime after your 90th birthday, possibly?”
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I’ve only ever had one coffee from a Starbucks and it was truly awful (Reading Cinema’s Branch, Courtenay Place, Wellington, come on down!)
Oooh yes - bought one under protest one time when I was late for a meeting nearby and desperately needed a coffee fix - and assumed they'd at least be fast (which they weren't). By the time I'd walked across the road to my meeting venue the latte fluff on top had completely disappeared and I was left with a cup full of pale brown lukewarm watery tasteless liquid. Bleagh.
Midnight Espresso was my favourite hangout for years, back from when I first arrived in NZ in the early 90s. I just adored the atmosphere and the painted walls and the "tattooed and pierced" staff - and of course the very yummy coffee and fab food. I'd sit at the open window looking out onto Cuba Street with my latte and just people-watch. Very satisfying.
I loved the place so much that when Debra Bustin (who did their original "train journey" branding) was auctioning off old artworks I bid on her original designs for the poster - and I was bidding against the owners of Midnight - and I won! Brilliant.
Also.... People's Coffee - yum yum and ethically-sourced to boot. LOVE their free coffee cart at Webstock. Fantastic.
Does anyone else ask in cafes whether their coffee is Fair Trade? I started doing it a year or two ago - and having established that all the good coffee places in Welli that I frequent do do Fair Trade coffee, I don't need to ask much anymore.
I figured I could do my bit to help increase the spread of Fair Trade coffee by asking for it (and going somewhere else if they didn't do it).
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Hard News: The Public Address Word of…, in reply to Geoff Lealand,
Well I'm voting for Avatar because the SFX completely blew.my.mind
and
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1) aka HP7.1 because I love Harry Potter and I thought it was the equal best of the set so far - along with Prisoner of Azkaban....which I guess makes me about as mainstream and Hollywood as you can get when it comes to movies. Ah well...
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Before we deify Mr. Whittle, we should consider the fact that as the CEO he has been in charge of an organisation now responsible for the worst industrial accident this country in almost a century
Crikey Tom, the poor guy's only been in the job a few weeks - I think he's doing bloody well - and it's hardly fair to pin the entire historical operational responsibility on him when he's barely had a chance to get his feet under the CEO's desk.
And as for accusing him of being "a company man" which I guess is code for management (as opposed to the workers), maybe you could read up on his background - from the Pike River website:
Peter Whittall brings close to 30 years experience as a coal miner and mining exeuctive to his role as CEO. Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive, he was Pike's General Manager Mines, a position he held since joining Pike in 2005. During that time he was responsible for all operational aspects of the business including mine design and development, and the essential areas of safety and environment. Peter has also been involved in the broader Pike River issues of coal marketing and capital raisings. Peter's background includes manager of underground coal mines for BHP Billiton in NSW, development of the greenfield Dendrobium mine in Illawara Coal and operation of the Tower and Appin coal mines in NSW. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) and a Masters of Business Administration.
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Up Front: That's Inappropriate!, in reply to giovanni tiso,
YES! Exactly, Gio.
Whereas I thought the costuming for the Britney Glee episode last week (which I guess was the original inspiration for the GQ shoot?) was spot-on.
Britney’s costumes for the original videos, were, I think (not being an expert on these things) pretty well replicated in the dream sequences in the Britney Glee episode and in Rachel’s new shorty schoolgirl skirt and plaits outfit.
And somehow both the Britney vids and the Glee costumes managed to stay just this side of schoolgirl pr0n. I felt they were sexy and titillating without being vulgar. Others may (and did at the time of Britney’s “Hit Me Baby” video) disagree, but there we go. That’s where my line in the sand appears to be drawn on this particular subject.
The GQ shots, on the other hand, IMO, stepped WAY over that line into soft porn and I HATED them. Very creepy and completely squicky.
Being a big old Glee fan I found it as shocking and inappropriate as if they’d, I dunno, dressed up Christopher Robin in bondage gear and had him whacking Winnie the Pooh’s backside with a leather whip. Or something.
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Up Front: That's Inappropriate!, in reply to Tess Rooney,
I see your Britney and raise you a Glee:
I know this was mentioned ages ago in the thread but anyway...
Am I the only person who found these pictures really rather squicky?
I went and had a look out of interest (I have obviously been hiding under a rock cos I hadn't heard about them before) and I only got as far as Lea Michele's sitting astride the changing room bench with legs wide open shot and I decided that I didn't really want to look at any of the others.
Am I having an uncharacteristically prudish moment and I really need to get over myself and accept them for the jolly fun and celebration of whatever that they obviously are - or are others similarly squicked out?
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Hard News: Do you like what we've done…, in reply to Joanna,
Oh woah that's kewl! I can see all your old comments too!
And I finally got my act together sufficiently to do meself a gravatar. Hooray!