Posts by Stewart
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Re the service - I've often found that new places take a while before the service really kicks into gear. It seems to take a few months of 'getting familiar' between staff, kitchen sections, front/back of house, etc before it all meshes and things get all seamless and fluid. (It might give them time to tighten up the menu, from what you say about the oysters & the sashimi.)
As for the wrinkly bands, I generally go for what they mean for me, personally, and how they provide some of the theme tunes of my life - but if they're not interested and just going "Auckland - by contractual obligation" it would be a real let-down.
Hope you enjoyed the night overall, though, Damian, now you have a young 'un taking up most of your evenings.
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I am fervently hoping that this is the Nats' Jumping the Shark moment. Let the vast majority of NZers fall out of love with them for this anti-valentine message to Mojo from Lockwood.
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Hard News: Media Mathematics, in reply to Euan Mason,
I entirely agree that we can best challenge the decision via his dodgy rationalisation, I just didn't want you to think that it was the supposed poor ratings that begat the decision.
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Euan,
I believe that the decision was not based on the figures, but was an ideological decision, rationalised by the dodgy figures. -
Yes, Matthew, and I meant every word of it... </sarc>
I was just pointing out that there is a sub-section of society that scoffs at our ideas of civilised behaviour and cocks a proverbial snook at rules, licences and the like.
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Chris, you've been away too long...
It seems like half the accidents involve people with no licence (admittedly generally disqualified drivers rather than those that never got one to start with, but I don't want to increase the incidence of either).
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Sorry to say that if you make the licensing more onerous you will just have a greater prevalence of those wankers who can physically drive but don't have a licence. And hence no insurance and usually no social obligation to play by the rules.
Are you scared enough yet?
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There seems to be a huge discrepancy between the urban and rural with regard to cyclists. In the urban environment cyclists are travelling at closer to the speed of the vehicular traffic and are being increasingly well catered-for (I know it is a relative consideration). On rural roads, however, with their parlous pot-holes, variable surface conditions and fractal edges (seal breaking away, etc) and generally narrower lanes, cyclists seem to be far less safe.
Understandable, partly, through economics of scale as there tend to be far fewer cyclists per road-kilometre but I am surprised that more cyclists don't come to grief in the hinterland around Auckland.
Cycle clubs and their lycra-clad members often go for training (?) rides at the weekends and on summer afternoons, resulting in groups of riders, often 2 - 3 abreast, on narrow roads where they are very vulnerable and they often travel at speeds significantly slower than vehicular road-users. This tends to cause tail-backs, impatience on the part of car/van/truck drivers and plenty of anti-cyclist sentiment.
I can't see how this is going to be improved and I expect that more cyclists are going to be harmed unless there is a huge effort to improve the status of cyclists/bikes on all roads and to give them priority.
The focus on urban cycling and safety needs to rolled-out to the rest of our roads as a matter of some urgency.[As an aside, I believe that all peple seeking to get a driver's licence should have to complete a monitored minimum time riding a motorbike before being let loose in a car. This would, with the attendant focus on defensive driving skills, greatly improve the standard of driving when the survivors graduated to cars.]
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Good call, Craig. We can do without the arse-clenching sanctimony a la St Garth and I take this opportunity to wish you and all the readers/posters here all the very best for the 'festive season'.
Make of it what you will, but allow it to make you (all) a better person.
Kia kaha & arohanui. -
Quite so, Lucy. I have no opposition to the research into prolonging life and I am happy to concede that my own philosophical position on this will not be shared by many (particularly those with a more acquisitive/materialist bent).
The research into the prolongation of life might just lead humankind to the possibility of some form of suspended animation that might allow our eventual colonisation of the galaxy. But I am happy, for now, with the prospect of my own mortality.(Ask me on my deathbed and I may have a contrary opinion, however.)