Posts by Anne M

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  • Hard News: Unusual Democracy,

    How about promoters just withhold a few hundred tickets until two weeks before a clear sellout, and auction them off themselves? Donate the extra profits to charity,

    BRILLIANT!

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report

  • Hard News: Unusual Democracy,

    If the NZRFU wanted to make rugby more available the Rugby Channel would be free to air, and Super14 matches would be $25/family. They're in it for $$$

    Likewise Guns n Roses. Or is it OK to on-sell their tickets, but not rugby ones?

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report

  • Hard News: Unusual Democracy,

    Anne M: The problem is that I am in the bookstore/ticket queue etc. You're charging me for you being able to get in quicker.

    Or for being prepared to sleep on that cold, cold pavement?

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report

  • Hard News: Unusual Democracy,

    If only they'd make sure they were hot and hunky naked men charging across the field, i wouldn't mind so much ;-)

    So maybe we need some sort of inspection system for streakers, prior to their display? Fair Trading Commission? Consumer Affairs?

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report

  • Hard News: Unusual Democracy,

    1. You have chosen to not participate in the culture, be it sport or thetre or music etc etc, but you have chosen to profit off the "misfortune" of others not able to get to the front of the line fast enough.

    But when I sell the book same thing - I'm profiting off someone else's disinclination to spend time prowling round bookshops. If I were selling the ticket I might be 'charging' for the time spent sleeping on the pavement outside the ticket office. No?

    2. You are inserting a middleman. In the free market the price of a ticket has been determined to be $X. You are selling the tickets you purchased for $X at $X+$A. The system is no longer a free market (as far as I see it).

    In a free market, isn't the price of something 'whatever it can be sold for'? In a controlled market, prices are set. And in the book example I'm the middleman there too.

    The artist (or whoever) doesn't get a slice of your $A profit either.

    Yeah, but the author didn't get a slice of my $999.50 profit when I sold that book either. Do rugby players get a % of ticket sales?

    OK, call me Mrs Thicky, but I still see no difference.

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report

  • Hard News: Unusual Democracy,

    Re: The "scalping being an evil thing" - can someone explain to me why, in the fabulous free market economy it is so vile?

    If I buy a 2nd hand book for 50 cents and flog it for $1000 why is this OK, while buying a Guns n Roses ticket for $100 and selling it for $200 is not? Apart from the obvious moral questions around taking advantage of the demented that is. What's the difference?

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report

  • Island Life: One sleep to go,

    I remember getting my first bike (the despised Raleigh 20) on my 9th birthday. I was so happy I cried. Wheels = freedom!
    I rode that thing until my future husband ran it (and me) into the side of a bridge. I think it went to the tip after that - pity, we owe it a happy retirement.

    Children have been pretty silent over s59 (hell, they're pretty silent
    on most political issues - and who can blame them? When you're a kid,
    there are usually far more important issues, like playing with not-Lego
    :) , but it would be nice to see what the people most affected think about it.

    I just polled the 8.5 year old (never been smacked) in my household who thinks that a) parents shouldn't smack, because it'll just make kids scared of them and the parents can use it as an excuse for beating b) that there should be a law against it, and c) that light smacking is OK - her definition of light being something that doesn't make the child cry.

    Hmmmm. Some contradictions there ...

    Happy Birthday to Mary-Margaret!

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report

  • Stories: Life in Books,

    When I was 14, my father, in reponse to my oft professed desire to be a vet gave me the James Herriot books, "All Creatures Great and Small" etc. I decided that a) being a vet involved being out at 2 am on a wet hillside with your arm up a cow's bum and b) this wasn't my idea of a good time.

    I probably wouldn't have got in to vet anyway, but it certainly changed my career planning.

    I also remember at about the same age reading Colette's "Claudine at School" and deciding to change my personality, but I don't think that worked, so it probably doesn't count.

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report

  • Southerly: It's Sad that You're Leaving…,

    Sadly, many of my former colleagues have poured years of their lives into brilliant projects only to have them inexplicably cancelled in mid-stride. I've found myself particularly haunted by the comments of one senior scientist, who told me: "When I look back on my career all I see are decades of wasted effort".

    BTDT. And lets talk about the money - I have a PhD and 15 years experience and I get paid less than a kindy teacher. And the job prospects. Well, your post adequately describes them. OK, so let's not talk about them.

    Good luck, and I think you're making a well thought out move. Freelancing may be a bit dodgy on the steady-income front, but the long term prospects are better than sticking around in science in NZ

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report

  • Island Life: The One Minute Stadium,

    We don't need a new stadium. New Zealand is full of places to play rugby. Auckland alone has enough of them. If the International Rugby Board is not content with Eden Park or the Jade Stadium they should hold their tournament somewhere else like Canada or Italy. We should not spend public money to ensure they have enough corporate boxes and advertising revenue.

    Exactly. If I am asked I will tick the box marked "The Cheapest One".

    Yeah Russell, they do build lots of big public spaces in Australia, but they are just that - public spaces. Not enclosed sports stadiums. And they have 5 times as many people to stump up the readies with AND big corporates and philanthropists ready to shuffle in a bit, like the Sidney Meyer Music Bowl. T'aint the same here.

    Since Nov 2006 • 104 posts Report

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