Posts by Scott Common
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Oh and seeing as everyone is mentioning their first cars I'll chuck mine in too (yes I did own one!).
My first car was a 1974 Austin Mini - british house green (ie I think it had been painted with green house paint from Britan).
Great little car, more like a go-kart with a roof to be honest. Cheap, easy to fix (I know nothing about engines and could still work out what to do), low cost on warrents...
The best thing was I could push start it on my own (being a 5'9" skinny white boy this was amazing!). Was a bit lite weight though at times, when parked on the top of Mt Vic I'd often have to roll it back onto it's wheels in the morning...
Got munched by a truck whilst parked (glad I wasn't in what was left of it!)
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To whoever said 'driving is not a right', it is. Like sex, duck shooting and loud music. In a society ruled by law, everything that isn't a crime is a right. It may be reasonably restricted, but essentially if you're an adult, pass your test and haven't been banned by a court, you have the *right* to drive.
That was me! However you don't require a license for either sex or loud music (of which I'm involved in both - but not duck hunting!) and your ability to do either isn't regulated by the government. However both driving and duck hunting do require licensing, and proof that you are capable, understand your responsibilities and accept that there will be possible repercussions if you fail to meet those responsibilities (in the form of no longer being allowed to perform the action) - your "right" can be revoked (making in my minds eye a privledge).
However I was more commenting on the attitudes which this sort of belief encourages. What I was trying to get across was that many teenagers treat driving like it is a right (including getting pissed off and feeling hard done by when they break the rules and loose their license and car) as opposed to a privledge - and it's that attitude which I was more interested in.
Cuba Street Bypass :
It's added on about 11 minutes each direction for what used to be a 24 minute walk into work for myself and my partner. We're also both VERY glad that we no longer live on Wallace Street (mt cook) which seems have gotten worse and worse. Most of the taxi drivers I chat with (of which about half a dozen live on my street) are pretty grumpy about it - apparently a lot more time at the lights waiting and certain intersections can take up to 3 light changes to get through.Meh/
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Hat Tip : Kirsten
I agree that 16 is too young for people to be in sole charge of a vehicle. It's something I've always been uncomfortable about - even when I was a teenager (was why I didn't go for my license until I was in my 20's - that plus I live in Wellington and as such don't need a car).
The other issue I have is that many people these days see driving as a right and not a privledge - this attitude needs to change IMHO.
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I meet Lou once, many years ago and he was utterly charming, but I watched him three minutes later utterly demolish another poor soul.
I too have had a similar experience, I just happened to meet him through some friends at a party. I honestly couldn't think of anything to say to him so just ended up with, "so hows being Lou Reed working out for you then?" - which was apparently the right thing to say cause he found it funny and put the conversation on the right foot.
Unfortunatly a good friend of mine was a bit less luck and eneded up being shredded by the brooding ones wit pretty quickly.
Sorry not very on the point of critics - but couldn't help singing out that I'd survived a conversation with Lou Reed!
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CAS1310-73-2 Said :
Is that figure still 80%? will it be in 6 months? will be interesting
Was it ever really 80% - how much confidence do we have in these polls to be true representations of the NZ public? Personally I always take those types of polls with a very large grain of salt.
But you raise a very good question - once it becomes clear exactly what the implications of the changes are how will this affect peoples acceptance of the changes.
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I've often wondered about those bands under the mainstream radar who play & release records overseas on a regular basis. Graeme Jefferies springs to mind as an example. Is there a reasonable living to be made playing those fringes gloabally?
Well the issue really comes down to the market at the end of the day. One of the problems the NZ bands run into is that if their music doesn't have mass appeal then the market here is really too small to sustain them for long - where as in a larger population base it suddenly becomes a much easier prospect.
Bailter Space had always been quite well respected in their niche market overseas and I'm glad they continued on doing what they do - sometimes it's just the fact that we have so few people in our country that makes it not fesible for an artist to operate on a commercial level.
There is a living to be made playing the niche markets internationally - but like any other market you've still got to be up to the industry standard (so to speak) to make the headwa - but theres certainly more potential with the larger market.
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Well I'll chip in again with my 2c (now actually worth about 0.5c after inflation and tax).
It's an interesting pick with using Bailter Space as an example Graham, the reason I say that is that they've always seem to be one of those NZ bands who are more interested in what they are doing that the attention that they get.
I remember being somewhat pissed off when the moved to the states, as I loved seeing them live and at the time thought it meant they were destined for big things. However the one thing I would say is Bailter Space, and Alistair in particular have always been quite realistic about their art. They know it's a small corner of the market that they are in, but if they'd stayed in NZ they would have had to go more mainstream to gain any further sort of recognition. I think it was more the media and fans who expected to see Bailter Space do "big things" overseas, they were more focused on doing what they'd always done but being more accesible to their actual market.
I've worked with a lot of musicians (some professional, some strictly amateur) who have gotten discouraged after not making the progress they wanted in the space of a year or two and throwing it all in - and I think thats one of the dangers of our current "hype" system - it encourages artists to think that if they haven't "made it" in a year or two theres no point.
Anyway thats all I've got at the moment without either repeating myself, sounding like a contrite idiot, or pealing off on another tangent!!
I've enjoyed this thread though!
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They discovered that the further south they travelled, the more negative the driver's reaction was to their hometown, verging on near hostility by the time they neared their destination.
Hehehe - you think thats bad try going to the Chatham Island when you live in Wellington. Then try explaining to them that you work for the government. Then take the next step and explain your from the Ministry of Fisheries (the Chathams depend quite a lot on fisheries)... that will get you a frost reception!!
Though to be honest once they got over that and realised I was an okay person they were really friendly (most of them at least) - of course standing up and saying, "I just want to minimise the about of bullsh*t you guys go through" probably worked in my favour!
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Brilliant write up Graham - I agree with a lot of what you have said. In particular the bit about the NZ community (if it can be called that) providing more support than actual feedback. I got to the point where I don't ask friends how our show was - I tend to have a good idea of how it was myself and unfortunatly, my friends being nice people, will tend to provide nice feedback (which is well.... nice, but not really that useful).
In regards to the mastering though I am in two minds - I agree that there is a substandard level of mastering services available in NZ (both in regards to technology and skills) but I also find the mastering on so many international records these days to be compressed to lifelessness. Many of you will know this trend as the "loudness war" which has been going on since pop music first gained its name. I feel like I could write an essay on it - but better people than myself have done so already so I won't continue pontificating about it here!
I was so digusted with the huge levels of compression on "At War With The Mystics" by the Flaming Lips (who I really like) that I traded the album back to the store for a new copy of Sufer Rosa by the Pixies (which would be the 8th or 9th copy of the album I've owned now!).
NZ artists do deserve our support - but not because they are New Zealanders - but if they make music that we enjoy.
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Yeap would definatly be interested in hearing your thoughts Simon (as your posts so far have echo'd my thoughts for the last couple of years)!!!
I've been holding back from expressing my opinions on NZOA and funding because there seem to be people who are more eloquent at expressing their issues than I probably am!