Posts by Russell Brown
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RB, could you translate "Prego" for the benefit of... non Aucklanders, I presume? I'm intrigued.
Prego is a long-established restaurant on Ponsonby Road greatly suited to long lunching, and traditionally favoured by the media menagerie (although it is also a watering hole for the beasts of rock 'n' roll).
One cannot book a Prego, one must present oneself. The tables are set very close, although privacy is assured by the fact that it is sometimes so noisy that one may not always be able to hear one's own dining companions.
The food, neither cheap nor expensive, is always good, and the service equally so. My service there has been particularly sterling since the day I volunteered to coax a rogue television journalist out the door -- although not before he had gesticulated wildly and knocked a pewter tray of mints onto the tiled floor, thus abruptly commanding the attention of the entire restaurant.
At this point, Paul Casserly was heard to observe:
"Best. Prego. Ever."
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Secrets from the world of otter sex:
To make sure that pups are born around April 1st, in otter mothers, and many other animal mothers for that matter, the implanting of embryos is delayed. That means an otter can have sex without immediate consequences.
And we all know where that leads. Also:
Screeching is characteristic of otter sex. They are supposed to do it in the water.
I only put this in because triggering someone's work WebMarshall filter on Christmas Eve with a page about otter sex would be the perfect way to round out the year.
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But when the sawfly larvae do it, it's like "Yeck, why did they ever ban DDT".
That's because sawfly larvae don't have faces.
Not having a face just isn't cute.
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I'm not wanting to start an argument at this time of the year, but I thought that the first sentence or two of Steven Joyce's madien speech was a bit odd.
It was unbelievably ill-advised. It made him look really petty.
He seems clever enough, but that was a weird flub.
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I think its safe to say, the Public address system works
So you're saying it's safe to ditch the "beta" from the masthead?
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Yeah, I don't post comments that often, but let's not make a big deal of it, eh?
Ah, but you're one of a select but crucial band -- the people who proofread my blogs for me.
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Thank you Russell for keeping this going.
My biggest fear was Media7 would take you away from the direct insightful commentary that has been PA.
I stopped doing a hell of a lot this year -- columns in the Listener, Unlimited and Idealog, occasional spots on The Panel -- and also handed over chief production duties on Public Address Radio to Damian. (As Craig says upthread, big ups to the Down Low Concept, and the saintly Glynis in particular for that show, and to Craig himself for his erudite commentaries.)
But the upshot has been that I'm not flaying myself writing for money, and, time permitting, I can put that into my blog. What hasn't happened is implementing some new ideas, but there was a lot new to process as it was.
I love the new people you've brought into PAS. They are voices I would never have heard without PA, because I just don't move in those communities. They say things I wouldn't normally hear and that makes my life richer, so thank you Emma, Hadyn and Graeme and thank you to all those who write in the comments section.
I like the fact that all our writers have notable other lives and work that they can share and talk about here when it suits. Anyone who thinks it's wrong to plug your own work in your blog doesn't really get blogging, frankly.
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What about a "Births, Deaths, Civil Unions and other items of interest" column.
That's a wonderful idea.
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Maybe it was an IT industry thing, but when I was at IDG (1994-97)there was a long and somewhat dishonourable tradition of long lunches. Not just the journalists but the whole staff. (Russell may remember these) The firm would shout all the staff three times a year. Hire a temp to staff reception, book a restaurant.
Oh yes! I lucked in one in my first week with IDG, and it was quite a spectacle. One of my favourites (a Christmas one) wound up with Rob O'Neill and I and several others drunkenly playing 7" singles in his flat. It was great fun, although we never did work out how those stains got on the ceiling.
They were a reflection of boom times, and of the distinctive culture of a privately-held multinational, rather than a corporation.
I think it eventually went down to two lunches a year, including Christmas, when the director, Martin Taylor would kick things off by dressing up as Santa and touring the office handing out presents.
Usually a different restaurant each time. By and large the restaurants weren't all that amenable to return visits. Kind of like the Romans not wanting the Visigoths back.
There were also IDG employees who opted to just go home early rather than join the madness. And there was the time when a certain middle-aged woman drove her car into a certain young man ...
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My mother still thinks you're dodgy, btw.
It is possible she is correct.
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