Posts by Sam F
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steven crawford - waterproof books (or, at least, notebooks, exist...I used to get them from a Brit supplier, but I am sure there are many more.
Only waterproof book I've ever seen was in someone's shower in Sydney - Aussie songs for the shower. A slim tome I wouldn't recommend.
The world does need some sort of bath-reading technology, but I don't think dedicated book formats is the way to go.
Y'all may wish to get acquainted (if you haven't already, it's a bit ancient by now) with Michael Braungart's Cradle to Cradle.
The book was printed on DuraBook technology, meaning plastic pages - but the wonder of it is that it feels and smells so good - not just like paper, but close enough for a dead-tree reader to seriously wonder whether or not it might eventually be a good format to use.
Yes, it's waterproof, and yes, you can dog-ear pages if you're a philistine (they spring back though over weeks, not seconds). And, notably, it's designed not to be recycled into something worth less, like Coke bottles, but to remain a book throughout its lifetime. The idea is that eventually the book can be returned to the publisher, the inks lifted off, and the book structure itself reprinted by machine as a completely new title.
Did I mention that the contents are really interesting and provocative too?
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Was mightily amused to see Garth George this morning losing his shit over police actions, as well as the new Government in general.
This ... is inexcusable and for Police Minister Judith Collins it ought to be the last straw.
Three armed coppers all shooting at once was like something out of a B-grade western movie. The whole ghastly incident reveals a lack of discipline, a lack of training and abysmal leadership.
I have said it before and I say it again: the parlous state of the NZ Police requires at most a Royal Commission of Inquiry and at least the peremptory sacking of the Commissioner and other culpable officers and managers.
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What we appeared to have spawned, according to the grainy black and white image, was a small fossil.
Sonography recapitulates phylogeny?
As other have said: beautiful post, although we've come to expect nothing less.
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I want to see her out there, in live, grainy TV feed, springing on sullen youths from moving police cars!
My solution involved cloning and jetpacks, but hey, we'll reach for the dream one step at a time.
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But I thought the election of a National government would instantly solve the Youth Crime OMGWTF Epidemic!
You do realise Paula Bennett can't be everywhere at once?
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Thanks for that - pretty much sums up my reactions.
And yes, that was one scary day of traffic - I was headed up Albert Street then along K Road and New North through to Morningside. It was a thrill at first to be cycling through gridlock, but you rapidly got the sense that each driver was gradually building up frustration and fury.
It felt OK with everyone crawling all the way up to Bond Street, but once those drivers got a sight of clear road through Kingsland it was like someone had dropped the flag at a boy racer grand prix. People weren't slowing down for nobody. I promptly GTFO'd onto the footpath.
My other abiding memory of Friday is watering and pruning our (delicious) tomatoes on the balcony whilst the stationary 3 News chopper roared away overhead. One of those odd urban moments...
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[various words about lycra gear]
Also, I'd guess that the appeal of race-replica lycra gear to some riders is actually increased by the general mockery expressed by non-cyclists.
<am-psych>To be ridiculed for wearing race lycra in traffic is to be reinforced in your self-perception as a serious cyclist, because non-cyclists just don't get it and never will.</am-psych>
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This whole debate started because Russell was trying to minimise the amount and extent of domestic violence initiated by women against men.
I think the idea of the ad campaign is indeed to minimise - or eliminate - domestic violence initiated by anyone against anyone , but I suspect that's not what you meant.
If this is something you feel strongly about from personal experience, then I'd like to echo steven crawford's sympathies, but it seems all you're projecting here is anger, and if that's as good as it's going to get, could you please try somewhere else? Thanks.
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I've seen some astonishingly cavalier cyclist behaviour here (including, but not limited to, riding the wrong way down the road) and it's just not good for anyone - cyclists, pedestrians, or drivers.
Auckland cycle couriers in particular seem to be over-represented in the stupid road manoeuvre ranks (based on my personal observation). I assume that, as with the buses, the incentive to hurry is an irresistible tempation to a minority of courier riders who chop their way through pedestrians, run lights, go the wrong way down roads and so on. They piss people off, and that heat is directed onto other cyclists, like (generally) blameless me.
That said, as for hacking people off by splitting lanes and so on, the problem is that for every person you mollify by not passing them in gridlocked traffic, there seem to be two who are enraged by your presumption in acting like a car (e.g. stopping at lights and having to start again, taking up more of a lane than the width of your arse) and thus in holding them in their God-given mission of Getting There Faster. Sigh.
Then there are the somewhat larger cohort who are too lazy to look out for anything smaller than an Astra and will genuinely not notice when they almost run you over. I could go on. But despite this moany post I've had generally positive experiences on the road in Auckland. Most people appreciate if if you signal and act predictably, even if you may be temporarily holding them up, and will give you enough road room to get by. That's alright by me.
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"It's knowledge, bro."
It's fantastic when you realise just how non-fictional Van and Munter are.