Posts by Jim Cathcart
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Regardless of Labour's fiscal prudence, you can't hide from the fact that private debt in NZ is right up there with the worst in the developed world (largely the result of the property boom). With the prices of those assets to fall for some time (stop kidding yourself if you think it will be over in the next few years) and debt levels reaching a plateau (or increasing at a slower rate), the case for government stimulus is strong.
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No Che, I live in a place where steak is a luxury. If I move back to NZ, perhaps I should enrol in finishing school to get me up to scratch.
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As for its shittiness, is it really that bad? Am I led to believe that SB's global dominance has been based on selling crud? Whatever the inner sanctum says, it's a far cry from the Greggs we were used to be served up at the Dome Valley Roadhouse.
As for McDs, it was also hugely influential in lifting the game of the takeaway industry. You can protest all you like, but it didn't take much for the Arches to corner the takeaway market with food that tasted better, was healthier, and presented a more welcomong environment.
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Think about people. You get decent coffee in Whangarei for chrissakes. Don't go telling me that Whangarei's rich food culture is whooly based on homegrown creativity and shininess. Outside influences are largely responsible, and SB has played its part by at least making it accessible (unlike the duanting "face control" of Auckland and Wellington cafe culture). The whole coffee clique is immature NZ cosmopolitanism gone wrong, like BMWs with personalized number plates.
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What's the real reaon behind the hatred of Starbucks? I suggest that its democratization of coffee opened access to gourmet coffee for the rabble, not the shitty coffee itself. As if the boycotters of SB really care about exposing another evil brand. What it's really about is old-fashioned coffee snobbism.
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It's interesting that up here in the Kansai rust belt of Japan, innovation in "green" manufacturing has been ratcheted up quite a number of clicks. We're talking real utilitarian, practical application with visible cost, environmental, and energy-saving benefits. Even companies such as Sanyo that were mocked as monoltihs not so long ago are steaming ahead with innovation. Sanyo has a great new green monument to the revolution, the "Solar Ark".
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Interesting to see that Ponsonby still has a pocket of "most deprived". Deprived of "what"? This season's Issey Miyake?
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I'd probably go for Dae Geum (bamboo flute) music as well. Don't have any recommendations though.
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Scott Burgeson's books and zines are probably worth checking out for "fly on the wall" cultural criticism. Very good writer and observer, but a bit too much for many people. He does his homework and takes it very seriously.
http://www.kingbaeksu.com/bugcrib.htm
The Timeless, Bottomless Bad Moive is worth seeing and Jang Sun-Woo is a director worth checking out.
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Thanks Daryl. You sound like you know what you're talking about. As to why the street price is so high in NZ, it could be a reflection of supply. $1000 for a gram of P. What an utter waste of money.