Posts by BenWilson

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  • Hard News: Siren song,

    Vista here too. Not because I wanted it, but because someone else got the stink job of installing it when I purchased my new workstation and it was that or an older MS product. Doesn't seem any better or worse than predecessors, just a little different in the usual pointless annoying ways that marketing dream up. The only exception is: Sometimes it opts to just reboot without asking, to install updates. I really hate this, being one of those people who never turns their machine off, feeling that boot-up time is life I'll never get back. I'm sure it can be turned off, and I'm equally sure that working out how will take longer than all the reboots I'll ever have to do. So I just put up.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Island Life: The Prime Minister will see…,

    Well, Fukuoka and I have something in common then. For some reason, there's a prevailing belief that gardening must involve endless hours of backbreaking labor, be treated as a job, another thing to worry about, and ultimately, after trying that for a while, outsourced to children or paid gardeners, or the whole thing given away in favor of lawns or concrete.

    But having done it with far less diligence than that for years, I can say, if you let the garden sort itself out, taking care only to get rid of the most dangerous or all-enveloping weeds, then you still get a heck of a lot of product for very little labor. My garden doesn't look like much, but it puts out.

    I see an analogy here to cycling, which can certainly be done in a hardcore way, and I don't have any issue at all with that, I think it's great. But most people don't want to do it that hardcore, and yet can still get a great deal out of it. To this end, looking always to the hardcore is a major source of cop outs.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Field Theory: Mother Dog!,

    Sport's as much in the doing as in the watching?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Field Theory: Mother Dog!,

    I don't smoke that cricket shit. It'll lay ya out for 5 days at a time.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Up Front: Boning Up,

    They would probably make a good tourniquet.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Field Theory: Mother Dog!,

    The question is not "Is sport the opium of the masses?", but rather "Is it good opium?".

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Field Theory: Mother Dog!,

    LOL @ chessboxing. Classic! Loved the intro of the first fighter: He smites with his right while he fights for your rights, it's Luis the Lawyer!

    The nerd/jock thing has always been a cliche, right from the start. It's never struck a chord with me, on account of having loved sports and computers from young age, and associating with people of similar mind. I was good at sports, and good at school, and still not cool :-).

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Up Front: Boning Up,

    Perhaps it's because I grew up spending every summer at a nudist camp - but I have a different view.

    Had an interesting experience of nudity last night, having gone to the opening night of Toxic White Elephant Shock, a contemporary dance show choreographed by my sister. I don't really want to give too much away in case anyone reading is planning to go to any of the other nights, other than to say, the show is great, perhaps the best I've seen from Alexa, and she is leaving NZ very soon, so this may be your last chance to see her work for a long time.

    The experience, for me, was that the nudity focused me far more intently on the dance itself than I would have expected.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Up Front: Boning Up,

    Yeah. I don't get the tie voodoo either. But I have managed to get all the way to being the man on the telly without one ...

    I've escaped that particular garrote myself. When I quit my suit job in Oz, I was sorely tempted to burn all my ties in a symbolic act. But they're still lurking in my cupboard, waiting to enslave me again, if business goes south.

    Which of course is why Russell doesn't need to wear one, being such an emblem of masculinity in and of himself. It's the beard, I think.

    I get the impression that he's a bit more like Kasparov. What intimidated the other players was (by their own accounts) not so much the man himself, being a mere human mortal, but the feeling that when you played him, you were playing against all of Russia. He reputedly got incredible volumes of totally free priming for every public game he played from a huge fan base. The opponents were analyzed for every weakness, and his own weaknesses were commented on by leagues of talented amateurs seeking to up his game.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

  • Island Life: The Prime Minister will see…,

    Start practising your hunting & gathering.

    Already have. And agriculture. It's really quite easy. Plants grow pretty much by themselves.

    But more importantly, I'm just consuming less. Less bad stuff, and less good stuff. The suffering from that is remarkably brief.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report

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