Hard News: Party central is hurting my head
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"Not party fucking central again", I thought to myself.
But then again: Party Fucking Central! A giant swingers club on Queens Wharf. That'll keep the punters entertained.
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What *will* happen - all the squirrelly machinations of central and local government despite - is
*people in local areas where matches are held will celebrate (or mourn)in their own venues & their own ways-
*people in areas where the big matches are held will do the same and
*people throughout the country probably wont *wont* be all that involved=actually- buggerall people in AotearoaNew Zealand care an iota
about a silly wee schoolboy fucking idea like 'party central'- gah! -
What happened to Aotea Square with its big screen?
It's still there. The Square (undergoing renovation) is due to be opened on October the 2nd. I've said to officers that it'll open then come hell or high water and if we have to wear safety hats and steel capped boots, we will.
Tournament runs from September 9 to October 23 which is in spring, not winter.
I'm still picking nasty southerlies - they still come in spring making it feel like a loooong winter.
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I presume this might have been in some of the briefing papers available to elected reps. What was the logic offered for proposing another fan zone in the cbd when there was already a freshly redeveloped one with budget allocated for a big screen? Is the total capacity too small when the hospitality venues are added in?
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White light to wide eyed light...
Fscking rainbows, how do they work?
archly they set arrows of white light aquiver
refracting drop by drop a spectral bow waveinfrared to ultraviolet and betwixt withal
Bifrost spans Asgard to Midgard infradigbut mostly they are magic
foam on particulate wavesviscerally vibrating
optickling allusionsreminding us
we are lightwe are
waterplus
dust -
My problem with the planning for party central is that I don't think any of the people making the decisions will actually go there once the ribbon is cut and the photographers have left the scene.
I went to the party central location in the old Team NZ sheds during the Lions tour about five years ago and it was good fun. The sheds were basic with television screens on every wall and post and the bars were temporary but working efficiently. (You had to by tickets to purchase drinks and the minimum you could buy was, I think, seven - which annoyed me at the time because I only wanted one. So much for responsible hosting.) The sheds had an energetic atmosphere and were a good place to go on a week night.
I noticed a slightly aggressive atmosphere on the weekends with more angry-looking men on the prowl and a few fights breaking out.
It was very cold, I think it was June or July, but dressing warmly was not too harsh a price to pay to enjoy the atmosphere.
I think the sheds would make an ideal location for watching the rugby in 2011. Queens Wharf is a huge space that would allow people to spill out of the sheds without getting too close to the water's edge. There just needs to be a few hay bales thrown around, name the sheds the "shearing shed" or the "wool barn", and wheel in a few kegs. People are going to watch the rugby not the interior decorating. I can't see why the $20 million is needed to be spent. What crowd do our civic and national leaders think they are catering to? -
Exactly Edward, at best there will be two or three thousand watching these games on big screens down there. If it is going to make or break the tournament then go drown me in the Waitemata right now.
Party central in Auckland will be a teeny, tiny bit of the 2011 WC. Do people honestly think that a game played in Palmerston North between Argentina and Georgia (yep that's the actual clash on the 18th of Sep) will be overshadowed by some rain in the viaduct or other insignificant wankery 400 km's away?
It won't even be on the radar.
We are worried about whether the players will be wearing green or blue underpants.
I was in Korea in 2002 for the football WC and there were 50,000 people at some of the outdoor big screen venues and do people sit back remembering that?
Nup.
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Ian - I bow, rainlike, to your poetic genius.
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(nobody, not even the rain, has such clever hands)
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Tasers? Oh great. Who would get them?
The Rock asked which New Zealander listeners thought ought to get a dose of high voltage, in the wake of Shon Key's comment to McCaw. A goodly number of the callers/texters - and one should consider that the Rock isn't exactly a hot bed of liberal listeners - suggested that Messr Key himself might benefit from a dose of electrickery.
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I presume this might have been in some of the briefing papers available to elected reps.
Sorry it was a verbal briefing. Presumably a report will come out in due course.
I don't know the capacity of Aotea Square but I'll find out.
People are going to watch the rugby not the interior decorating. I can't see why the $20 million is needed to be spent. What crowd do our civic and national leaders think they are catering to?
It's a point I've endeavoured to make time and time again: rugby fans coming here are not interested terribly in the fancy lights or the fact that council has thoughfully provided a new road for them, but they are very interested in the game.
It's the game that they are after, and so long as you can transport them to the game and back to their hotel or someplace central, they'll be happy. And that most emphatically does not take $20m (and counting) of ratepayer money.
My nephew and his wife suggested that instead of party central money should be spent on making public transport free for the period of the games. For everyone. That alone would put more people in a party mood than any 'slug' could.
I am accutely aware of that well known condition that afflicits officials and elected reps whenever a big event turns up: rush-of-blood-to-the-head-itis. It's curable but requires the likes of Craig to be deployed at every meeting.
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People are going to watch the rugby not the interior decorating.
And herein is my major disagreement with all rugby.
Not enough attention paid to the interior decorating.
Make of that, what you will.Its all muscly braggadocio, false humility, and a whole bunch of New age cum marketing catchphrases that just look and sound wrong.
And as for the materials....well.... a remnant of our tribal selves rewoven, till its threadbare and a gross distortion of its original intent. Completely lost in a world that has changed around it unless gifted total adulation. And there seems no end of supplicants. No surprises there...eh!Meh an' all the space aged, heat applicated, whizzbang go fast garb, just garish.
But it will look right at home with a couple of hay bales.
And 2000 men pissing into the sea.I can't see why the $20 million is needed to be spent. What crowd do our civic and national leaders think they are catering to?
Oh Word brother word!
{tongue in th' cheek} My attempt at being a Homey. -
Dear Auckland,
Thanks for the LOLZ!Luv
the rest of NZ -
Bravo Ian Dalziel - a superb poem, and probably the best one ever inspired by a (modified) Insane Clown Posse lyric...
In PFC news: John Banks discovers the astonishing idea of having a RWC party area within an existing party area.
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How about Tea Party Central?
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There just needs to be a few hay bales thrown around, name the sheds the "shearing shed" or the "wool barn", and wheel in a few kegs.
I like that. I've discussed a scaled up bbq theme with some. Widespread Pakeha culture, easy for many hosts to feel comfortable with, etc. Rewoven if you like.
What crowd do our civic and national leaders think they are catering to?
That's part of the problem - they've been told it's cruise ship tourists as well as rugby fans. The cruise ship industry has its hand out for corporate welfare in paying for their shore facilities and Key, McCully, et al are lining up to kiss their arses.
It's annointed as an "economic development" activity. Much like the major events industry, there's a pervasive assumption that public money just ought to be provided, without any real comparison of the impact of other (especially foreign revenue earning) industries on national economic wellbeing. I understand when people get annoyed about that. I'm sure there are industries we could invest in with higher revenue/cost margins, appealing careers to keep talent at home, lower environmental and social impacts - and a future after peak oil bites hard.
The public needs to be shown what cruise ship docks look like in other parts of the world. Just like the RWC experience not depending on some silly nominated 'party' spot, I doubt most pasengers will base their opinion of the trip on the place where their passport was stamped. There's a certain inferiority complex at play about wanting to have something flash.
instead of party central money should be spent on making public transport free for the period of the games.
Great idea - and it would also speed up the boarding process. As it is, RWC ticketholders won't be paying a fare partly for that reason. Extending that to all our visitors during the tournament would make a better impression in one of our weakest and hardest to fix areas - getting people places.
I don't know the capacity of Aotea Square but I'll find out.
Thanks, Christopher. I think it's about 20-25k, but I'm also interested in whether the demand modelling took into account exisiting hospitality venues within the surrounding area. Maybe there are more down the bottom of town? Or maybe the tourism promotion aspect of our (largely inaccessible) waterfront was considered a compelling factor? Media sure aren't saying much.
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Oh, and awesome poem, Ian
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John Banks discovers the astonishing idea of having a RWC party area within an existing party area.
So they have noticed the new Viaduct events centre. It's impressive, on the waterfront, being built in time, already paid for - and what do you know, designed to host events. Sketches at link. Have seen detailed plans, and they're good.
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Dear Auckland,
Thanks for the LOLZ!
Luv
the rest of NZThat's how it's being played, for sure. When it comes to national interference in your local government, though, you guys are next. Of course, you might find it harder to spot, with the national govt being so close by and all. Like an episode of V, perhaps?
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OK, before going to do actual work, here's Rudman explaining his own change of heart after earlier supporting the proposed big new cruise terminal structure.
But in April, when the Government and the ARC agreed, subject to consultation with the Historic Places Trust, to spend $9.6 million building a temporary "party central" on the wharf which involved knocking down both old sheds for no good reason, that was just vandalism.
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If there's an upside, it's that without the hysteria surrounding the provision of a World Cup party venue, Aucklanders now have the chance for a more considered debate into the future of Queens Wharf. We can go back to square one, unpressured by the needs to accommodate party central.
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Mordor mcCully was ranting on RNZ this morning - again - and he offered an interesting glimpse of his vision of Auckland's future. he opined that the super city and the new waterfront authority cannot come quick enough for him, which it seems to me is translated as an assumption like minded people unaccountable to the ratepayers will do the minister bidding without a murmur, and if they don't one presumes McCully will simply sack them all ECAN stylez until he gets a board that does.
I noted on the BBC this morning that Spaniards hugged, wept and celebrated their semi final win in front of "large screens erected outside Real Madrid's stadium" - not a party central in site. More to the point, I was driving around at 7pm on Wednesday night and happened to hear Peter Montgomery on Radio Sport interview Steve Sumner (who appears to have some vague role with FIFA - he had just come back from a junket to South Africa). In between Montgomery’s excitable outbursts of angry middle aged man syndrome Sumner made some fascinating observations about the FIFA world cup. He said most of the "party centrals" are just large screens in fields or parks, and people make their own fun. More to the point, he said the people of South Africa have embraced the event. Unencumbered by a bitching boozy middle class with expectations of everything laid on for them or by being one of the favourites, Sumner said the people of South Africa are totally into the event regardless of who wins it, just because it showcases their country to foreigners.
There is an old cartoon from the early 1970's showing a New Zealander looking at a beautiful mountain landscape and exclaiming "Well! Don't just sit there! Inspire me!" I hope the 2011 RWC doesn't simply go to demonstrate that when it comes to our national character, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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just the facts, ma'am...
I'm wondering what the RWC company (is there such a thing?, ie not the Govt interventionists) is bringing to the "party"?
• are they having a separate information centre for visitors or is their presence limited to the stadiums only ?
• is this "party central" venue purely a game time only affair? or is it doubling as an all day and night display and info site as well? -
Some RWC answers for Auckland region:
http://www.auckland2011.com/ -
From Rudman's column:
The Viaduct Event Centre the council is building is an obvious contender. It's the right size, it's in a harbour-front position, and is near the waterfront restaurants and bars. Alternatively, there's the Vector Arena, a warm, snug and dry haven, that could be very attractive in late-winter Auckland.
I think there's a pretty decent chance of Vector Arena being used anyway. Negotiations on 3D TV rights are well down the track, and the party seeking the rights wants to use Vector for mass 3D screenings of matches.
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Gasp, there might be more than one place where people could gather!
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