Posts by st ephen
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Am I alone in reading loaded language here?
Not subtle, was it. " Don't forget that our current flag was designed by some crusty old English toff - Admiral Sir Albert Hastings Markham, KCB?" Why is the name of the flag's designer suddenly relevant?
Plus all that other stuff about how this is the time to decide which flag we'll stand for into the future, it's a unique opportunity, we could never possibly be given another chance. -
Polity: Leaving only footprints, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
Yes, I've been fell walking (and scrambling) in the UK. And done some pub-to-pub walking. It's fantastic. But my view is that "tramping" is a particular word used in NZ to describe a particular recreational activity that is psychologically and physically different - if only because the environment, facilities and population density are different. Walking the Tongariro Crossing with a line of literally hundreds of people stretching into the distance feels much more like fell walking than tramping. Hunting and fishing also seem like quite different activities compared with the idea of tramping described in the Te Ara article (once you get past the use of 'trampers' to refer to people travelling for trade, food-gathering and warfare).
-
Polity: Leaving only footprints, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
It’s called “hiking” or “walking” outside NZ.
Yeah, nah.Tramping in New Zealand is not the same as walking in Europe. Or at least, it wasn't in the past. You can certainly 'walk' our Great Walks, and end each day at a large lodge with flush toilets and gas lighting and cooking. (Now that DOC is feverishly rubber-stamping tourist concessions, it won't be long before European-style catering is added). But you can't 'walk' a traditional tramping track - ie. one that hasn't been formed by a digger, drained and surfaced with a foot of packed gravel. And since tramping was never popular in NZ beyond a tiny white, middle-class minority and is even less popular with moneyed tourists, the whole sub-culture with its etiquette and taxpayer-funded playground are pretty much doomed. I'm sad about that, but understand why others are not.
-
Speaker: Waitara and the perils of…, in reply to Ross Bell,
You're not only more restrained but also quicker.
-
Vote these men out. It is not that easy.
True - they appear to be cloning them.
-
Hard News: The good guys, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Interesting isn’t it that the team behaves so much better than our crowds.
And the internets are filled with comments from gloating, boorish kiwi fans banging on about the outstanding humility of the ABs. It isn't rubbing off, guys.
-
Hard News: The positive option of Red Peak, in reply to TracyMac,
Did someone say Nazi salutes?...
-
I think he did it in a desperate attempt to save face...
Yeah, nah. Red Peak is very popular with people who hate John Key and the National Party, and quite popular amongst designers and intellectuals and "experts". It is massively unpopular with "mainstream New Zealanders" - just read the comments on MSM and social media. They are incredulous that anyone sees any merit in Red Peak for any purpose whatsoever, and deeply resent being told that they have crap taste for loving Lockwood's silver ferns. John Key is smug - not desperate. He knows that Red Peak will be utterly trounced in the referendum.
Unfortunately the 'buzz' created for Red Peak by urban liberals has ensured that it will never be our flag - just like Hundertwasser's flag and Tino Rangatiratanga, it's a symbol of division, not unity. -
I don’t think adopting an existing design with strong meaning associated would be a good idea
True, which rules out the Hundertwasser flag, which is most often seen surrounded by faded rainbow wind socks and driftwood poles sporting paua shells. Personally I loathe it - and I vote Green! Lockwood's awful mess is benefiting from 15 years of promotion, whereas any version of Hundertwasser's was up against it because of previous use. It was always a complete non-starter - as the final four should have been.
And for all the bitching about lack of Design Professional input, the 10,000+ entries included plenty of awful flags from professionals. -
Hard News: Fine words, some hope, in reply to Ross Bell,
we have a conservative, right-wing government which releases a drug policy that says "alcohol and other drug problems are first and foremost health issues." There's no use of the word "scourge", or "evil".
Perhaps another sign that the libertarian right is well in control of the stodgy, rural, conservative Nats. I guess there are winners and loser in that.