Posts by Robyn Gallagher
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Rose Bowl = Held during the Festival of Roses.
The Rose Bowl stadium is where the "bowl" name originated. The game was previously part of the Tournament of Roses, and when the bowl-shaped stadium was built, it got the name Rose Bowl. This in turn became the name of the annual game, which in turn lead to other "bowl" games springing up in other areas, and finally the Super Bowl.
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I've got a great anecdote along those lines regarding when Chris Heazlewood from King Loser worked at Ihug in the late '90s.
Whoa, Heazlewood used to work at the 'Hug! Arrgh!
There were a surprising number of musicians/actors/indiecunts who worked at Ihug. Some of them were brilliant (behold the direct debit form I co-designed with the drummer from Delta!), but others had trouble with the whole "having a job" and "doing work" thing.
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Imagine how bad John Key's cast will smell when it comes off.
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I now want to meet Robyn and see if she uses that in irl conversation.
Um, yeah, I do. Only #ffcc00 and #003399 are the only colours I know (apart from #000000 and #ffffff).
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You realise that this obliges you to make at least one substantial and amusing post to this thread about the crazy old days @Xtra?
Crazy old days was more Ihug. I started at Xtra in 1999 (almost exactly 10 years ago!), and by then Xtra was kind of stuck between 'new media cool' and bloody Telecom.
It all seemed very sensible and well run compared with the 'Hug - "Wow, they have an actual health and safety policy!" "Wow, they do performance reviews!" "Wow, the boss isn't insane!"
And unlike ihug there was - at least on my floor - no sex, drugs or other crazy times, which was a tad disappointing.
One big thing I remember was the celebrations for the 300,000th customer. Hopetoun Alpha had been hired out, with balloons and Mongolian barbecue. But management tried to keep it a surprise by saying it was a general company meeting, so of course no one wanted do go. Eventually they had to fess up, and we willingly boarded a party bus and duely celebrated.
There were also compulsory Friday afternoon drinks which you had to attend and be all social and shit. You weren't allowed to go home early. You had to stand around and drink a beer, a wine or an orange juice with the accountant.
Two big things happened when I was there. First, the ditching of Xville and the introduction of the #003399 and #ffcc00 portal. I also remember all the crappy microsites I had to look after - the pages for webhosting Xtra business clients, and the absolute nightmare headache that was the Xtra shopping mall webhosting thing. Ugh.
The other big thing was the introduction of the flatrate internet pricing. It started off being $44.95 a month (matching Ihug's $45), but a few days before launch they dropped it to $39.95. At the time it was shocking.
Xtra was fun and my workmates were lovely, but it was all getting a bit too sensible and businesslike. I got bored and eventually quit, walked the earth, eventually resurfacing in the fast-paced world of television.
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But visually, it was ahead of its time. A web site - a portal, no less - which dared to eschew the conventional banner cross the top, headlines down the middle, nav marks down the left side.
That's the problem - it was all nagivation and no content.
I was working at Xtra back then. If there was a virus alert, I'd have to add it in plain text beneath the Xville image map.
It was interesting, but only once - the first time you saw it. But it never changed, and smart people bookmarked another page beyond the X.
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And what is this reason to be cheerful, why the Great Blend is back. That's fantastic I think.
But oh no, not in Wellington.
One is terribly saddened to hear this! Perhaps some of us Wellington-based PA regulars could organise a less formal get-together?
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Every NFL team has a fight song and most of them are really old.
What does New Zealand have? "I don't know, whoa, oh, oh. Why does love! Do this to me!"
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The Pittsburgh Steelers Superbowl song. Truly an abomination.
It sounds like a Stray Cats song that has had some football-related lyrics awkwardly worked into the tune, yet the googles tell me it's an original composition. It's just awful.
...And yet terribly catchy. It must sound amazing to hear a stadium full of fans singing "Heeeere we go!"
Right, so that's my earworm for the day.
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Or, better still...
Mr Obama! Mr Obama! We can do a deal! I'll buy you a delicatessan in brushed stainless steel!