Posts by Sam F
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Hard News: Only what we would expect a…,
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I read Deborah Coddington’s column yesterday.
Isn’t it slightly a stretch to rail against political correctness in general as sweeping ‘honour killings’ under the carpet when it hasn’t even been confirmed that the murder was an ‘honour killing’ in the first place? And does anyone seriously use the term ‘honour killing’ in this country except in a deeply ironic and negative sense? Still, if it lets you get your misplaced rage on at the PC crowd in a national newspaper...
The editorial on SOE share sales was a lowlight too but the relevant issues are already well canvassed here.
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OnPoint: Election 2011: GO!, in reply to Danielle,
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I am perhaps the only person on earth who didn't know this, but I recently discovered the (deeply square) sample source for 'Regulate':
Ha, nice. New to me too - I remember reading somewhere that Warren G had deliberately decided to chose one of his dad's favourite songs to g-funkify, but hadn't actually heard which song it was.
Square as it is I have to admit I kind of like it - or maybe it's impossible to hear now without mentally laying the newer song's attitude onto it...
No! This cannot become a thread about frivolous happy things! Leopold expects more of us!
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Muse: The High Aesthetic Line, in reply to Andre Alessi,
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Seriously though, this is how you do an entertaining sci fi movie these days:
What is this I don't even
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Hard News: Only what we would expect a…, in reply to Sacha,
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Emmerson cartoon in the Herald is a pretty good summary of the wisdom of asset sales.
Makes it all the sadder to see the contrasting editorial, doesn't it?
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Hard News: Because it's about time we…, in reply to Scott A,
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And one thing that I, as a Wellington civil servant, who lives and works in the city centre has found, over the last five or so years... is you just can't get decent filter coffee anywhere, any more.
Sympathies. But if you ever find yourself lost and caffeine-depleted in Auckland's CBD, teeny little "Our Cafe" (on the corner of Swanson and Hobson Streets) does great filter coffee. They hand you the cup, coffee and hot plate's there, milk's in the fridge behind you... think it's about $2.20 from memory. Nice people there too.
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Hard News: Only what we would expect a…,
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I do love this sudden rush of political enthusiasm about Kiwi mums and dads.
Obviously after the last couple of years of scrimping and paying down debt, New Zealand families are now suddenly awash in cash, and will jump at the chance to buy chunks of power companies that they actually already own.
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Hard News: Because it's about time we…, in reply to Whoops,
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One of many surreal experiences in China (with photographic proof somewhere) was entering a Starbucks inside the Forbidden City in Beijing.
This weirded me out too. If I recall right there was some angling to have it removed, but possibly just too good an earner?
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Muse: The High Aesthetic Line, in reply to BenWilson,
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Yup, the action sequences were still very well done. I don't think anyone's really captured the "titanic space battle" quite so well as Lucas.
I recall some impressive moments in Starship Troopers but otherwise, yeah, he does do that stuff very very well.
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Hard News: Because it's about time we…, in reply to Andre Alessi,
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The production flow behind the counter is horribly designed for what is essentially the coffee equivalent of fast food, and the one-beverage-at-a-time approach to making coffees is absurd with the kinds of capital Starbucks could invest in its equipment and training.
From what little I've heard, McCafe is doing alright for McDonalds; I wonder what they're doing right that Starbucks did wrong?* Might be an exercise for a really good senior analyst...
*Apart from McCafe being tied to a titanic global brand that's already omnipresent in NZ fast food culture. But maybe there are other differences; I can't comment with much authority on quality of McCafe coffee or service...
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Hard News: Because it's about time we…,
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Some qualification-free armchair marketing: about the only way I can see that Starbucks might actually have done alright in New Zealand would have been if they - deep breath - dropped the pretense of being a cafe and acted as a milkshake/juice bar franchise with a emphasis on coffee-flavoured drinks (and maybe the occasional coffee)...
You have less drastic real estate costs thanks to smaller premises, and avoid getting into an unwinnable fight with an established cafe culture. I'd wager most of the people who want a caramel frappucino to go would be just as happy to grab it from a milkbar as from a cafe-type setting.