Posts by Gregor Ronald
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Hmmm, not so sure. I don't mind being called Pakeha, though - to me it's shorthand for "New Zealander of European origin" or something along those lines. I've never felt any kind of "relationship" with Maori other than "Hi, how ya doing?". Are we reading too much into this?
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Waterfront development might be fun and games now, but in 10-20 years we're going to need those wharves back, to fulfil their original purpose - handling freight, after the death of long distance trucking. We'll need warehouses and railway lines, not Party Central and walkways - and we'll need sleazy boarding houses and grungy pubs for the sailors too.
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I'm no kiddie-fiddler, but I certainly didn't find that picture (Kevin Rudd's "inarguably disgusting" example at http://avatar.bardicweb.com/files/ghetsuhm/PAS/art_monthly_37085a_37197t.jpg) disgusting at all. In fact it looks rather sweet and innocent. Some people seem to have trouble separating nudity and sexuality, methinks.
When I was a lad in flares and paisley, the first Blind Faith album cover caused a similar fuss; you can read the artist's explanation at http://www.angelfire.com/wi/blindfaith/vvcov69.html
Even if there is porn on the web, I trust people to exercise their judgment; shouldn't politicians also treat the voters as adults?
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As a casual (i.e. less than fanatical) rugby watcher, this Henry business appears to me as just another step in the long downward road that NZ Rugby has taken in recent years. I haven't been to the ground to watch a game this year, and I don't watch much on Sky either.
It's got to the stage where we were sick to death of rugby by the time Super 14 finished, then there was the half-baked provincial series without the ABs - the highlights were the minor provinces, especially Southland's performance (revealing my origins here...) - and the World Cup was a long drawn-out media wank, from the "Mighty Warrior" TV ads, the little tins of "homeland" dirt, down to the loss in Cardiff.
I think there are a lot like me, who've got to the attitude of "Let them do whatever they want, I just don't care about it any more." And the boof-head comments in my Christchurch local this weekend didn't help either.
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There is more at stake here than emails with the wrong timestamps. I'm the system administrator for the Blackboard e-learning system at a university, and we're going to be in an "undefined" state on 30th September.
Our servers run on Windows Server 2003, and that will change according to the new rules.
BUT - the Blackboard application uses the BEA Weblogic web/application server, and that is heavily Java based - and Sun haven't released a patch. So on the 30th I expect that the Windows clock will show the DST change, but we really don't know what time the Blackboard learning system will show. How this will affect system logs, scheduled database jobs, due dates for student assignments, etc, is not known.
I plan to log on early to check, and if necessary I can set the time zone within Blackboard to Nukualofa - for a week. That's the only time zone available going forward an hour, otherwise I'd have to set it to Eniwetok/Kwajalein (Yes, it's an American application...) but then we'd be a day behind.
Since most Americans think New Zealand is somewhere near Vermont, I guess we shouldn't be too surprised at this. And it has confirmed my growing dislike of Java, that's for sure.
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Regardless of the fact that Auckland will probably mismanage any opportunity that comes its way, it's a bit tough to bad-mouth yachting as a sport. There are thousands of Kiwis, myself included, who sail in races and love the sport, and who have been enjoying the AC racing so far.
I'd like to point out that as I approach 60 I am still able to compete in sailing races on a level footing with guys 1/3 my age, while my contemporaries who "love sports" sit on a sofa watching rugby, or play an occasional round of golf.
Sailing is a genuine sport, with millions of devoted participants, involves subtleties of trim and tactics beyond the understanding of your average rugby-scrum headbanger, and has nothing to do with corporate downtown Auckland. If Team NZ wins the Cup, let's sail the next races at Lyttelton, and leave Auckland to fight about roads and house prices.
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While it's good to see some compromise and an end to this interminable debate, I'm extremely unhappy that judgments about what is/isn't legal are now in the hands of the Police. In any constitutional democracy, that's the job of the legislature - the Police enforce the law, they don't make it.
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I've been a dedicated cyclist for many years with no incidents, but last year I took a solid left-side fall and broke my collarbone. That is a very painful injury, which left me with a niggling shoulder ache that only 10 mins under a hot shower can relieve.
Then this year - a dive over a car bonnet, hand outstretched... and I drove my left ring finger straight into the road. That pushed the two end joints back past the first joint, which ripped open the flesh and popped out sideways. Seven weeks later and I still have no feeling up one side and on the tip of the finger, and I can't really make a fist.
Then there's 30 years of skiing - dislocated shoulders, sprained thumbs, and a really fun day side-slipping down the Fox Glacier with a big pack on, trying not to use a ruptured ankle.
Maybe I'm accident prone? Or are these just the price of being active?
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It's a powerful ju-ju, this four letter word. Why are rational people so excited when it's used in public? It's a word, fer crissake! I'm with Billy Connolly on this; he used to start concerts with a hundred "fuck fuck fuck"s, and then the audience were desensitized.
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C'mon guys, who put the hemorrhoid cushion on the photo of Auckland's waterfront? Stop being silly, this is a serious issue! That's enough, now show us the proper plan and stop being puerile.