Posts by Tom Beard

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  • Hard News: The back of a bloody envelope,

    "It's MINE!"

    To cross-post from Twitter:

    Revealed! Gerry Brownlee's behind-the-scenes policy advisors.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Hard News: The back of a bloody envelope,

    DeepRed:

    IIRC wasn't it one of us who likened Australia to a nation of shoe factory-hands who won the lottery?

    Not sure, but I recently saw someone describe Australian cities (and suburban Perth in particular) as looking like Hamilton after everyone had won Lotto simultaneously.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Rational, then,

    Was I mistaken when I heard someone from the government on Morning Report this morning describe mining as "sustainable"? If so, it's a pretty radical redefinition.

    I had the same facepalm moment. We still have mines, so mining must be sustainable, right? Arrgh!

    I take it he's never been to Charleston or Brighton or any of the other gold rush ghost towns.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • OnPoint: Rational, then,

    Accessing even 10 per cent of that would give the NZ economy a fillup in coming years

    Sacha: I thought that you'd made a typo with "fillup", but it seems that Fran really wrote that! Actually, conflating a "fillip" with "filling up" the economy is a pretty classic eggcorn.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Up Front: This is a Photograph of Me,

    I didn't get a license until I was 26, and then only because I was being transferred to Auckland. Back then my skills were actually in demand (ah, those were the days!) and I managed to negotiate my employer into paying for my lessons and the deposit on a car. After a couple of years I moved back to Wellington, and after a couple of months I realised that I was only using my car about once a fortnight and it really wasn't worth what I was paying for insurance and parking. So, I've been carless (or as I prefer to think of it, car-free) for over a decade, and while I still have a license, functionally speaking I'm a non-driver.

    A few years ago I had lost my license (as in physically misplacing the card, rather than being banned) and was travelling in the US with work. After getting carded and refused entry once too often (despite looking well over 30), I took to taking my only other photo ID with me all the time: my passport. After one particularly debauched and sweaty night in Vegas (don't ask) I absent-mindedly (read: drunkenly) threw all my clothes in the wash, forgetting that my passport was in my trouser pocket. Everyone should try getting from Las Vegas to Heathrow with a fluffy, pulpy, disintegrating passport: it's really quite a laugh.

    In the words of the great Alexei Sayle: "I never drink and drive. Well, I never drive, really".

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Field Theory: A post about art (sort of),

    Gio: I think I vaguely remember the ad you're talking about. There's also this.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Field Theory: A post about art (sort of),

    But Weta also made the tripod on Courtenay and the trees at Te Papa

    The tripod is:

    - relevant to Weta's industry;
    - site-specific;
    - self-mocking;
    - playful.

    None of which applies to the rugby sculpture.

    Which trees at Te Papa are you talking about? The wire trees on the plinth? They were by Regan Gentry. Or the trees in the natural history section of Te Papa? In which case they're a piece of exhibition design, not art.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Field Theory: A post about art (sort of),

    I did some trigonometry the other day. It was pretty weird finding a use for it =)

    I use it occasionally, even though it's (ahem) tangential to my job.

    I won't comment about the sculpture ... at least not under my real name.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Up Front: Your Whining Is Important to Us,

    Facebook is for playing word games. And linking to PA columns, because I have a number of friends who only read them that way.

    Really? I thought Facebook was for checking the RSVP list to see whether any hot people are going before accepting the invitation.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

  • Up Front: Your Whining Is Important to Us,

    @Sue: I had no problems at all the two times I've tried. I still wouldn't use them in a time-critical situation, though.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report

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