Posts by Robyn Gallagher

Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First

  • Hard News: Total Attitude,

    I've said this before, but Attitude really is one of those televisual gems that more people should watch.

    The big thing I got from it is that while it can be difficult having a disability, it's not the end of the world. Attitude may focus on people with disabilities doing amazing things, but they also show people with disabilities doing ordinary things - like going to university, being a parent, playing a favourite sport - and I always found that to be a huge inspiration.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Hard News: They can see your house from here,

    Note to any Googleistas in these parts - do check local Councils for timing and avoid immortalising streetworks, if that's possible. Some neighbourhood changes just aint attractive.

    One strange side-effect of Street View is how rough so many neighbourhoods end up looking - even ones without roadworks.

    I'm guessing it's because normally when we see a photo of a place, it's usually taken on a nice day and in a flattering way. Street View is out there on shitty overcast days, taking the street equivalent of a passport photo. Lawns are unmown, blinds are crooked. Houses have messy hair and aren't smiling. It's the opposite of the immaculate of the real estate photo that we're used to seeing.

    And in a strange way, this roughness captures far more than just "a photo of what a street looks like".

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Public Address Word of the Year 2008,

    You know, as much as I love rofflenui, I'm really reluctant to support it as the Word of the Year, simply because - according to Google - it's never been used outside of PA System.

    Especially when you compare it to previous years' high-voted words - unbundled, peow peow, truthiness, Te Qaeda, sub-prime, it's business time - rofflenui just doesn't stand up.

    I fear that rofflenui would require a definition to be understood by someone outside of PA System, whereas the previous words - even Te Qaeda - are instantly comprehensible to most New Zealanders.

    But perhaps rofflenui will be 2009's Word of the Year.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Hard News: They can see your house from here,

    If this is who it looks like, this may be the NZ Google Street View jackpot. Outside Premier House, a woman with short dark hair, wearing a red coat. Helen, is that you?

    (Originally found by Peter at the Wellingtonista)

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Hard News: They can see your house from here,

    Lolz - one of my workmates has found her car parked outside both her flat and her boyfriend's flat!

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Hard News: They can see your house from here,

    I was just thinking - won't it be incredible to look back at these photos in, say, 30 years time? It'll be like time travel!

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Hard News: They can see your house from here,

    Kathryn Ryan had the impression that it gives you a live video feed.

    Nope - just a bunch of static images taken a few months ago.

    I don't think google and/or Big Bro have enough cameras to have a video feed of everywhere, all the time.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Hard News: They can see your house from here,

    The Mount Vic tunnel appears to be a wormhole into another dimension.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Public Address Word of the Year 2008,

    3. lipstick on a pig

    The animal Palin compared herself to was a pit bull!

    One candidate for Word of the Year has to be John Key's opening to just about evrything he says: "well look"

    Well, look, I completely agree with you there. Substitute an "um" and the meaning stays the same!

    It has to be "like"--the teenagers' comma, fullstop and general all-round fill-in word.

    I first started hearing "like" in the '80s. It made it into the NZ Oxford dictionary a few years ago. And my 60-year-old dad says it from time to time.

    Also, do we have a definition for rofflenui? Something like "big laughs"? I tried googling it, but it lead me only to this very thread and nowhere else! Surely it can be antedated to earlier than the start of this thread...

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Public Address Word of the Year 2008,

    Here's another one: Current Economic Situation.

    We're not really sure what it is or how it will effect us, but we do know that it is quite bad, and might be worse, but also might not.

    In years to come, we'll tell our grandkiddies, "I lived through two Gulf Wars and the Current Economic Situation!" And they'll all be like "woteva, grandma".

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

Last ←Newer Page 1 93 94 95 96 97 195 Older→ First