Posts by Stephen Judd
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My guess is that the objects of your ire were AK Samba. Since I belong to their equivalent in Wellington, I'm probably somewhat biassed. But you should be grateful to live in an age where organ grinders and hurdygurdy players no longer assault the ears of the decent citizen.
Personally I find crap guitarists busking with dinky canned percussion and bass far more offensive. But I like hurdy gurdys.
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nz native: I kind of agree with you, the behaviour of some hard-core drinkers in our culture is totally fucked up.
BUT: I think drunkenness is to some extent socially constructed. We all know of the studies where people are given OJ but told they have screwdrivers, and behave like munters... conversely, in some societies, people drink a lot but being visibly drunk is seen as shameful. I think a problem we have in New Zealand is that alcohol is something that we have to have in order let loose (cause we're inhibited so and sos) and having let loose with alcohol, virtually anything we do is ok and in some circles even admirable, cause alcohol made us do it. You can't tell someone what you really think unless you're really pissed, and then you fuck it up because you had to drink so much to get there. You can't have a good time unselfconsciously unless you're really pissed and then you're too pissed to really enjoy or remember. Elsewhere -- I base this on hanging out with a lot of South Americans recently -- people have better interpersonal relationships and dance and sing and stuff and they don't have to get pissed first.
If I ran the anti-drinking campaigns, I'd stop with the "it's how we're drinking" slogan and start taunting young men about whether they can hold their liquor like a real man, ie by behaving cheerfully and not throwing up/smashing things and people/generally being an anti-social prick.
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If you ain't in top gear yer a poof. ;-)
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
I'm actually several stops above granny gear, truth be told, if not at Jack level, but typical Wellington geography does place certain demands on the commuting cyclist that just don't exist for most Aucklanders. Eg I have about a kilometre of continuous hill climb (Courtenay Place to Upoko St) as the last leg of my trip home.
I'm very happy with my current commuting set up, on an old Specialized Hardrock with street tyres. But that hub gear and belt drive sounds pretty sweet.
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I must say I'm looking forward to some more high-profile cycling advocacy now that you've joined us, Russell. It's a good way to get around!
Wellingtonians should take a gander at the CAW cycling hazard map.
Amen to what Ross Mason said. There is any amount of research showing that accident rates are highest where footpaths, roads, and cycle routes cross at 90deg, particularly where the party crossing has to look both ways. A cycle route that is constantly crossing a well-used road is a major FAIL.
Jack: what's granny gear like on those hubs? My interest is piqued, but for me gearing needs to be suitable for a good Mt Vic hill climb.
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How … literate.
It's hysterical.
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why does it give me the shits in a way that the Auckland CBD doesn't? I wouldn't hesitate to stroll along K Road on my own at 2am -- it's actually quite fun. Various central Christchurch streets? Not so much.
Here's a theory -- in my limited experience, and I wait to be corrected by someone who lives there, those Christchurch streets are somewhat empty (perhaps in fact reflecting the dearth of inhabitants) compared to the Auckland and Wellington equivalents. Harvestbird and I were out a while ago and traversed from Dux Deluxe to Bar Beleza, and went through a great dead zone where hardly any other bugger was about. Cathedral square in particular is scary empty, no matter how well-lit it is.
All other things being equal, I feel safer when I can see lots of other people.
To be fair, it could be that now that Christchurch has a rep, those of us from elsewhere feel a little on edge there late at night, when we wouldn't on our home turf.
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I've just finished my birthday present copy of Unseen Academicals.
I thought Juliet's role was simply to be a foil to Glenda. Her story is unformed and merely sketched in because beauty or not, she's a bit player. Inasmuch as book has main characters, they're Mr Nutt and Glenda. So I wasn't bothered.
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I think Eric Schlosser's Reefer Madness is the definitive look at the social wreckage caused by US drug policy. And things have got worse since he wrote it, as far as I know.
Our local situation looks rather saner by comparison, but only by comparison. I agree with everything Rich just wrote.
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Danielle: sure! And never mind enhancing the Muppet Show, there's sex! (There is some sort of Private Eye euphemism to be had there if I can just figure it out).
These things aren't mutually exclusive.
I wasn't positing systemic unhappiness as a reason for mere usage in our society, but for abuse . I should have italicised "need".
Big elements of the debate about binge drinking and drug abuse focus either on the moral failings of users, or their helplessness in the face of advertising/nefarious drug pushers. And when it does turn to the interesting question of why some patterns of use are so different in our country to others, people don't seem to want to drill very far into exactly what makes us different.