Posts by BenWilson
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Without going into detail, Damian told me a fall-from-grace P story last night that just staggered me.
Yeah, I heard a pretty bad shocker a few weeks ago. My excuse for opting out is that I never mix uppers and downers. It's actually bloody annoying that I even need an excuse, but P-heads looove company.
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Simon, I'm also my worst critic. I didn't make it clear that I got that you were saying "Auckland and NZ is actually mostly cool, the residents just don't seem to appreciate it".
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Jamie, lol. True. Developers are the scourge of the earth because they develop, and then instead of cheap vacant lots or 1890s termite shacks, we have more expensive property that old folks can live in. Can't they just get on with it and die?
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3410, I find it hard to see banks as villains. I would not have a property if it was not for them.
In fact, I can't see any villians in housing affordability. OK, it's a bugger that I grew up in St Mary's Bay, but will probably never be able to live there, certainly not in the kind of place I grew up in. But on the other hand, when my folks bought there, I have clear memories of the neighborhood, and it was nowhere near as desirable as it is now. As in, I haven't seen any slums anywhere in South Auckland today that were as bad. I'm not kidding.
Auckland has just got wealthier and more desirable generally, and house prices reflect that. It's only something to lament if you haven't managed to get wealthier yourself - but the banks surely don't have much to do with that.
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Good posts by Grigg. I agree with so much of what he says, but I also lived abroad for quite a while and got some perspective. That seems to me to be the meat of his comment on politics, that Aucklanders (and probably NZers generally) lose sight of the bigger picture, because they are in the picture.
However,I don't think what he says is limited to Auckland. When I catch up with old friends from Melbourne I realize that no one has a sense of perspective, and their obsession with the minor doings of local politics and culture are just bemusing to foreigners. I see an awesome town with incredible infrastructure, they see a roadwork that adds 2 minutes to their trip to the supermarket and think of it as too much government in their lives.
Even commenting that NZ is at the end of the earth is a typical example of this. Australians always used to say this about Australia. And then there's places that really are isolated, like Fiji. When I was last in Europe, that place which seems to most NZers to be the centre of human culture from which we are so far removed, I spoke to dozens of people who lamented what a shithole where they were was, whether it was a beautiful little town in Hungary, or wildest Amsterdam, or bustling Berlin, or sunny Barcelona. They all dreamed of a wonderful carefree life of idyllic charm down in little old NZ, even people who had actually been here. They seemed not so much to not realize that most people here are 9 to 5ers living in cities, as to not care.
The grass is always greener. But it's not. NZ actually does have the greenest grass in the world, no matter how much of a 'drought' we are having.
We micro analyze the world around us. We can recognize people we know from hundreds of metres away, but have trouble telling people from other races apart when standing face to face. We can tell the difference between socialist Labour and capitalist National, when any foreigner would have trouble distinguishing between the slight shades of market socialism that they both are. We think our boss is being an unbearable wanker and we can't stand our jobs, but anyone who actually has a life of real hardship sees a life of ease and prosperity. We see the All Blacks going down the toilet, but everyone else on the planet knows they're still the best Rugby team on the planet on any average day. We think we suffer from cultural cringe, until you realize that most people everywhere are total philistines, who just happen to be near a lot of great art they neither appreciate nor participated in, nor supported.
Such discernment is a form of blindness. Like a cat stalking prey, oblivious of all other dangers, the filters of our minds adapt us to the subtle variations of our surroundings whilst at the same time blinding us to the enormous variations that really exist in the world.
Is it something to worry about, or simply acknowledge? NZers can't see themselves the way foreigners do. And on the flipside, foreigners can't see us the way we do. Neither perspective is 'right'. One is more global, the outsider looking in. But the insider looking in sees more detail. Furthermore, they see the foreigner in a way the foreigner can't see themself.
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I've recently gotten a predictable bile facial from the usual suspects over on Kiwiblog over agreeing to write for Media 7. You know, unprincipled heretic whore who will sleep with the enemy for money blah blah blah. My mistake thinking that kind of crap is worth engaging with.
When will you ever learn? You comment on bilefacials.co.nz and think you'll get to star in a romantic comedy?
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A cunning plan like that, what could go wrong?
Suspiciously low conversion ratio? Wouldn't that just drive the payout per click down?
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Craig, what would you listen to during the break? The signal-less signal?
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No disscontent intended. The ads aren't the only noise.
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How sweet.
I'm sensing sarcasm. THAT'S IT, I'm taking my content and going home. Oh, no, that's right, it's your content now, and I'm already home.
Think bFM. You'd miss heaps if you ran an adblocker over your radio.
That is true. There would be 50% silence. Koan for Craig: What is 50% of zero silence? Hint: You won't find the answer in the noise.
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