Posts by st ephen
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Excuse me - didn't Hadyn ask for irrational hatreds? Seems like people have no trouble offering up perfectly valid reasons for their hatreds.
But Rachel, I too have got over my hatred of Wayne Smith, even though I had to move to ChCh shortly after that shield game. The worst part was Keith Quinn's commentary - describing as "brilliant" a move that simply involved catching the ball and running in a straight diagonal to the try line. Of course, hating Quinn is a given, and Smith is the only likeable AB coach of the past decade.
But I hope you're saying that you're a fan of Smith and have grudging respect for the team - because if there's one thing I can never forgive, it's people who move to Canterbury and become converts to the local teams. But that's a rational hatred on my part. -
My six-year-old joined me on the stroll down to the polling booth at his school - gorgeous day too, after three days of snow and hail. On the way we discussed the terrible abuses of the democratic process that can occur in certain countries.
Then we stood side-by-side in the booth, and under his intimidating gaze I ticked the Greens box as instructed and was therefore allowed to return home with all my limbs intact.Later, with two percent of the vote counted, he was absolutely devastated. I pointed out that life under National might not be so bad, because while he may be poor and brown, I am rich and white so National will look after me. And I will look after him, and he can carry on looking after the environment. He calmed down a bit. But I hope he doesn't find out that people actually voted for ACT until he's about nine.
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Possession? The AS Byatt? Which is one of my all-time favourite books.
Er yeah. That one. Of course - as with LOTR - I skipped anything that didn't look like prose...
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My problem is with books by American men. I really have no interest in the lives and concerns of middle-aged divorced English professors. Just like I have little interest in a 20-something BA grad and her musings while on OE in Europe. (Thank god for The Vintner’s Luck. And Bill “Write about something you don’t know” Manhire).
I’ve started but not finished two each from Richard Ford and Don Delillo, and although Paul Theroux may slag us off for our ignorance of his Great Works, I think his travel writing is hard enough to stomach.
The problem is I’m more into the Mills and Boon thing, as long as it’s wrapped up in literary pretentiousness - eg. magical realism and recipes (__Like Water for Chocolate__); Hansard papers and sheer weight (__A Suitable Boy__); academic piss-taking (__Persuasion__); Mediterranean history and war (__Captain Corelli’s Mandolin__) etc. The closest I’ve got from an American was Cormac McCarthy, but of course the love story involves an under-age prostitute, gruesome knife fights, and no happy ending. Where is the love, America?
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And if anyone knows about Enduring Chill it’s the Groke...
I recently got through the Moominvalley collection with the kids – mixed bag really, and not as 'genius' as I remembered despite the new cover endorsement from Phillip Pullman. I think they should have retained the first translator, who gave it the feel of a quirky nature-child Bjork video. Still, it’s nice to see promiscuous mothers, absent fathers, sleep-over girlfriends, pipe-smoking yoof etc presented as simply part of the landscape, rather than as Issues.
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I was hoping for a bit more from Labour's Two Johns "attack ad". Like maybe a Three Johns remix of "Pink-headed Bug"? Surely one of you lefto-muso-techo-creative types can oblige?
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My advice is to keep your hand in a little with the smoking and drinking. One day you too may have a chronic and incurable disorder and the best the medical profession will offer is "cut back on smoking, alcohol and caffeine". And if - like me - you're already down to one coffee/week, one standard drink/fortnight and no smoking for 20+ years, it doesn't leave you with much room to move.
Plus it's always good to have some discretionary income up your sleeve when there's a recession looming... -
Ah. 30/30 for the famous people (with matching names). And 92% for unfamilar bald people (though having Ricky Ponting in there was a gimme).
So while I share the name-loss symptoms described by many above, I'm not actually on the Brown Syndrome Spectrum. I really am just a rude prick...
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That P story nearly lost me half a page in when he tried to illustrate "the pervasive nature of the drug in society":
Exhibit 1: Millie Elder, rich party girl.
Exhibit 2: Connor Morris, kickboxer, son of Head Hunter known as "One Eye"."South Auckland to the leafier, wealthier parts of town", sure. But isn't it the bit in the middle that's supposed to be the story?
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As a Bay of Plenty supporter my hatred is directed towards Canterbury. At least it is now. It used to be Auckland in the 80s ...
Of course it is. And of course it was. And that's where your re-jig proposal (salary cap, different team winning each year etc) falls over. Without any team dominating, hatred will wither and die. Without hatred, well, what an anaemic and pointless exercise it will all be. Imagine it: Hawkes Bay win the Championship, so now their second tier players become too expensive to retain. So next season they finish mid-table. But no worries, in ten years it will be their turn again. Yawn.
Surely it's better to watch HBay fall agonizingly short of ending Canterbury's ten-year unbeaten reign than to watch half the Canterbury squad in Bay jerseys beat the other half in Taranaki jerseys to end Taranaki's one-year reign?