Posts by Rickai

Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First

  • Cracker: Hands in the Middle....,

    I regularly run at 6.00 am Sat or Sun mornings. Park at the fishmarket and head with a couple of mates out through the viaduct and towards the eastern beaches. Every time I pass Providor it makes me cringe. Bad, bad music and really hammered people just hanging on to the last vestiges of an ordinary night. People asleep in the little concrete box gardens outside the ferry building. Blokes yelling at us, trying to shoulder us, just awful. Go home you clowns.

    Interestingly, the crowd outside Spy Bar is different. Often generally engaging. "Where are you going?" "Keep it up." "Not far now." Although Tony Veitch needs to talk to his supplier because I couldn't understand a word he was saying.

    Since Jan 2007 • 47 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Misadventure and Muppetry,

    Apologies - Physically, obviously.

    Since Jan 2007 • 47 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Misadventure and Muppetry,

    Sickness beneficiaries up 26,000 in the ten years to Dec 09. Invalids up 33,000. Unemployment down 95,000. Sickness benficiaries increased 20% in 09 during the recession.

    http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/statistics/benefit/2009-national-benefit-factsheets.html

    There's definitely a story there. I do sometime feel that there are a lot of sick people who need to harden up a bit.

    Since Jan 2007 • 47 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: That Summer!,

    I saw 6 orcas in Kawau Bay. Good times.

    Long line. Wall of death for pan-sized snapper.

    Since Jan 2007 • 47 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: That Summer!,

    I had fresh seafood at least once a day from 25/12 until 10/1. A personal record. 10 species. And then still had 3 weeks holiday left in the Auckland sunshine. Best ... summer ... ever.

    Since Jan 2007 • 47 posts Report Reply

  • Field Theory: The Wonder Years,

    I listened to it on Radio Sport. Ron Snowden did a good job - he is so much cooler than Wads. The World War One veteran (aka Styris) was awesome.
    Incidentally, I never thought Hadlee gave Chatters enough credit. In fact - my enduring memory of the early 1980s was overhearing my Nana calling Paddles "that selfish prick of a man".

    Since Jan 2007 • 47 posts Report Reply

  • Speaker: The Architecture of Elsewhere,

    That expresses exactly what I meant!

    Having had a good walk around inside the Court of Appeal it is brilliantly brutal (if indeed it is actually Brutalist architecture - I'm no expert) on the inside too. The court room had no windows!!!

    Maybe Queen's Wharf could be something similar...

    Since Jan 2007 • 47 posts Report Reply

  • Speaker: The Architecture of Elsewhere,

    That Library design is a disgrace. One of my favourite streets in WGTN was the one with the Court of Appeal and the Library on it (molesworth?). In fact that whole area of town worked somewhat (Parliament, Beehive, Law School, Cathedral, Backbencher etc). Maybe it was the space they occupied. And yes, I think the Beehive is kinda funky.

    Since Jan 2007 • 47 posts Report Reply

  • Speaker: The Architecture of Elsewhere,

    Great post Patrick. Good book on villas too.

    A few random thoughts...

    Sticking a metal thing on a builiding may be appropriate for a cheap and effective retrofit (witness that building at the corner of Newton Gully and K Road, but (and call me an old-fashioned conservative) if the building is going to house our Privy Council replacement, I was hoping for something with more traditional gravitas. Great villa country though...

    Didn't Gehry's application get rejected for Te Papa? So that we could have a NZ designer? All due respect to Mr Mercep but ... not his best work..

    Having just completed a wallk around CHCH (after a 16 year absence) I found nothing to rave about. Some good stand alone buildings ruined by poor neighbours. The square was, my architect wife commented, an excellent example. Except with very few good buildings.

    Art Deco in Napier (and not forgetting Ranfurly) is a pastiche. It's still very enjoyable to look at.

    What is wrong with Varsity Brutalism? Ok, I rephrase, there's a lot wrong with it, but for me it provides an effective and efficient historical narrative.

    Banks is an idiot. Queen's Wharf will fail as noone can agree on what it is they want. Whatever is erected will serve the RWC purpose but then so did the Heineken Tent for the Whitbread in the summer of 93/94. Heady days.

    Since Jan 2007 • 47 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Not in front of the children,

    I used water as a flame retardant on my out of control BBQ in the weekend. I felt ok about that usage.

    Henry is a narrow minded right wing thug. But one that rates way higher than his colleagues at TV3.

    Since Jan 2007 • 47 posts Report Reply

Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First