Posts by Tom Beard
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Field Theory: How's that working out for…, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Didn't say that fitting the definition of a "sport" was more praiseworthy.
No you didn't, but it's the subtext when people refer to chess, snooker or dance sport as "not real sport".
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Field Theory: How's that working out for…, in reply to Leopold,
Why Oh why can't the RWC be like the Wellington 7's
Oh, for the love of all things holy!
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Given that the word "sport" originates in the Old French desporter, "to divert, amuse, please, play", that would indicate that an abstinence campaign would have to be the most anti-sport gesture one could make.
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Field Theory: How's that working out for…, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Best definition I heard (and still useless) ... If you don't sweat it isn't a sport, if you do sweat it might be a sport but might not.
Well, since most dictionary definitions of the noun "sport" require athleticism or "physical prowess", I suppose I would have to go along with that. But that begs the question, inherent in the usually derisive tone of "but that's not a sport!", of what it is about sweating that makes an activity more praiseworthy than a perspirationless one.
Personally, I consider the verb "sport" more conducive to human happiness than the noun.
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Field Theory: How's that working out for…, in reply to BenWilson,
In your own home, no, that's just prudent. But if you're out fishing and that's all that's on the boat, you're really suffering for your sophistication.
I tend to avoid any boat that's too small to have a barista and bartender.
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Field Theory: How's that working out for…, in reply to BenWilson,
It's really only bucolic in so far as NZ is bucolic.
Quite. But I tend to include certain aspects of suburbia within the rubric "bucolic", and despite statistics saying that New Zealand is highly "urbanised", it is more accurate to say that we're suburbanised or provincial-town-ised.
More importantly, the rural origin myth persists in this country, and the concomitant anti-urbanism and anti-intellectualism. In the ongoing commercialisation of rugby, the commercial imagery still rests heavily on nostalgic depictions of the "heartland" and "grass roots". Personally, I'd rather occupy the headlands than the heartland, and I'd rather not dirty my co-respondent shoes by walking on grass.
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Field Theory: How's that working out for…, in reply to BenWilson,
Refusing to drink instant coffee, and putting up with caffeine cravings?
Or in my case, making sure I am never in that situation ("I am glad to say I've never seen a spade" etc).
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Field Theory: How's that working out for…, in reply to BenWilson,
Sophistication is a good thing, in moderation. Being too sophisticated has always seemed neurotic to me. In the end, it often turns into simple prejudice, with extremely complex justification.
It's a question of where you draw the line of too sophisticated. Personally, I'd draw it just below the Algonquin Round Table. But in the New Zealand I landed in at a tender age, it was drinking anything that didn't come in a can, speaking polysyllabically, or suggesting that you'd rather read a book than run around a paddock.
New Zealand, and New Zealand rugby, has come a long way since then, but there are certain aspects of the hype that suggest an atavistic irruption of bucolic blokiness, though now glazed with a sticky layer of corporate marketing.
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Field Theory: How's that working out for…, in reply to giovanni tiso,
Well, a lot of us were trying, and the sense of entitlement (backed by legislation) of the RWC team made it truly painful, but I can't claim much more than moral support behind those that actually had influence. Most people I knew agreed with my suggested location (i.e. underwater), but that option wasn't pursued.
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Field Theory: How's that working out for…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Fair enough. None of that stuff has really bothered me, or in general, touched my life. Wankers be wankin', whatever the year.
I've had to spend a lot of effort trying to stop a certain embarassing blot from ending up with a permamnent home in a very prominent location. I can't take the credit (blame?) for it now having a more discreet and hopefully temporary location, but it has indeed bothered a lot of Wellingtonians who believe that public art probably shouldn't be in the hands of people who make monsters for a living.
And yes, wankers be wankin', but the RWC has acted as a wanker magnet. Whether there's more wankage than usual this year, or whether it's just become clustered around the Cup to form a massive scrum of marketing bukkake, is hard to tell. But avoiding RWC hype and guilt trips (we're all ambassadors, don'tcha know?) is not as easy as avoiding sports blogs and muting the sports news.