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Showing posts from February, 2011

When Your Strut Fits The Music

When it happens it rocks. You know, you're walking along the street feeling all good and special with yourself and you enter the bar / cafe / shop and the music's beat they have playing exactly matches your very own strut. You feel like this ... I know I do Translation: "There's only one thing to do at a time like this: strut!"
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What Do You Do? Hashigo Zake Does Something!

It's easy to wonder, "What do you do?" when faced with an event of the magnitude and devastation of the Tuesday's Christchurch earthquake ... the answer is something, No matter what, no matter how small, do something. Hashigo Zake , a small cult beer bar here in Wellington are doing their bit this Saturday evening: So it's time we did something drastic. This Saturday evening every cent taken over the bar at Hashigo Zake from 6pm until midnight will be set aside and donated to two causes. One is Atareira , in recognition of Matthew Hall. The other will be Christchurch earthquake relief. All you have to do is go and drink as much of the finest beer to be had in Wellington ... simple! Drink them dry!
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Charity Fringe Show Friday 25 Feb 2011, 9.30pm

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Fringe Bar 9.30 Friday 25 Feb El Jaguar and Friends heart Shakeytown! Hands up if you feel useless? Hands up if you wish there was something you could do? Hands up if you’re feeling so grateful right now for all your friends and aching for those who have lost? To try and capture and deal to these feelings, ‘El Jaguar and friends heart Shakeytown’ is an Earthquake Benefit variety happening this Friday night, 9:30pm at the Fringe Bar, Cnr Vivian and Cuba Streets, with all proceeds to be donated to Earthquake Relief, specifically Red Cross. Ex-husband and wife duo, ‘El Jaguar and Es Sposa X’ put aside their differences for a night and will host some of Wellington’s best loved performers who will bring a smile or a tear to your face. There'll also be a raffle containing meat vouchers and baking from some of Wellington's finest bakers! Line up to be confirmed, but so far confirmed performers include: - Sarah Harpur and Jim Stanton- The Comediettes - Jerome Chandrahase...
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Beached Whale - Donate To Christchurch

http://www.redcross.org.nz This film is just about getting people to help out those affected by the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. We're not tied to any charity or relief organisation, but we just want people to give what they can where they can. Giving is the act of spreading love. The NZ Red Cross seems a good starting point so we have provided a link at the top of this description if you just want to give and ignore our cheap cartoon. If you have a charity or want to promote another way to help, feel free to leave a comment below. A beach-load of love from J-Rad, Macca and Bosh.
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Beer In The South Island

The fine folk from @EpicBeer spent the New Zealand summer touring the South Island discovering the finest breweries, videoing them and showcasing the best beer that NZ has to offer. And the best in NZ is equal to the best anywhere else in the world ... prove me wrong!
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Philip Pullman On Freedom Of Speech

This is, in my mind, a companion to So You'll Be Offended
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Minimalistic Spam

It's simple, small and very very ineffective: from david crose to date Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 5:01 PM subject Winner Of 750,000.00 USD in the AT&T 2011 Promo Send: Names: Location: Tel:
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Most Popular Autocorrects for January 2011 - HA HA HA HA

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Damn You Auto Correct is a great blog that I wholeheartedly suggest you subscribe to and pop into your "read when I have time" (it updates fairly regularly during the day). Here's my favourite from their top 15 of January 2001
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Join Us At Summerfest 2011, Feb 27th

Join esteemed beer critic Neil Miller for Summerfest 2011 - a family friendly celebration of great beer, food and music Sunday 27 February 2011 3–6pm at Worser Bay Boating Club Marine Parade, Seatoun Pre-purchase tickets $5 (children under 12 free) For all the details and to follow us on Facebook , go to http//www.worserbay.school.nz/summerfest2011 All proceeds support Worser Bay School
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Google StreetView In Museums

Google StreetView is still one of those technologies that makes me gasp at it's scope, delivery and sheer brass bollocks to get it done. And now you can pop off the streets and wander around some international museums taking care to look as close at the art as you like. It is amazing. Check it out at http://www.googleartproject.com/ (or on Google Maps at http://maps.google.com/museum ) What museums? How did they do it? Is it really amazing Mike? Watch this ...
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The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Explained

In a nutshell!
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Popular articles

Regulatory Standards Bill: Submission Guidance & Assistance [Updated]

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*phew*, this is hard work. Unlike the Treaty Principles Bill which has a tonne of templates and publicly available submissions for you to copy/amend/submit, the Regulatory Standards Bill has very little out there. Update 14-Jan-2024: Did I Miss The Submission? (spoiler, no ) -------- Submission form:  https://consultation.regulation.govt.nz/rsb/have-your-say-on-regulatory-standards-bill/consultation/intro/ Email your submission to:  RSBconsultation@regulation.govt.nz More: Explanation & Submission [Updated] What Is A "Person" [Update 8-Jan-2024] Emily Writes (Jan 06, 2025) being awesome, OK fine, what submissions do I have to make FFS?! , "Don't worry - I got you. Here's everything you need in one place!" : Bill: The Regulatory Standards Bill Do it by: 13 January 2024. Why should I care? This bill is the twin to the Treaty Principles Bill. So much so that you can use your submission for that bill as the template to this one. It has been described as: Th...

Regulatory Standards Bill: Explanation & Submission [Updated]

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You've done  your Treaty Principles Bill submission , and that was a piece of cake eh. If that's what all Bill submissions are like then bring it on, the voice of the masses can be finally heard. Update 14-Jan-2024: Did I Miss The Submission? (spoiler, no) -------- Submission form:  https://consultation.regulation.govt.nz/rsb/have-your-say-on-regulatory-standards-bill/consultation/intro/ Email your submission to:  RSBconsultation@regulation.govt.nz More: Submission Guidance & Assistance [Updated] What Is A "Person" Hmmmm, seems it's different for each Bill, which sort of makes sense. The Treaty Principles Bill is something that's not going anywhere no matter what happens, so it's been made very much a, "Tell us what you think and what could be done", expecting a tsunami of, "It's crap, throw it away". The response is gonna be, "Ok, we asked and we're gonna throw it away, as we were gonna anyway." There are Bills t...

The Difference Between One Million And One Billion

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It feels like a billion is just a bit bigger than a million. Obviously it's bigger but it fits on the same scale as a million, surely. It doesn't. A billion is so so so much bigger than a million. I've trawled the internet finding graphics and videos that show the VAST difference between one million and one billion. Oh, and just to finish with a different misconception about space starting with the classic opening line from the great Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy : “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”

Regulatory Standards Bill: What Is A "Person"

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Apart from the timing and the large set of questions (which you don't have to answer, just send in the submission for you want), the most insidious part of the Bill is the use of the word "persons". Update 14-Jan-2024: Did I Miss The Submission? (spoiler, no) -------- Submission form:  https://consultation.regulation.govt.nz/rsb/have-your-say-on-regulatory-standards-bill/consultation/intro/ Email your submission to:  RSBconsultation@regulation.govt.nz More: Explanation & Submission Guidance & Assistance [Updated] I take this from the extremely helpful and detailed, Proposed Regulatory Standards Bill : Explainer & Submission Guide , written by Jen Bennett and Melanie Nelson with contributions from several others. What does “individual” or “person” mean in this Bill? Most government action should think about all of us - not just some of us. The Regulatory Standards Bill (RSB) focuses on individual interests. In the Bill the term "individual" or “perso...

Regulatory Standards Bill - Extension NOT Extended

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On ya, finally got to submit your  Treaty 'Principles' Bill thoughts  BUT that's only part one of two! Don't be fooled into thinking you've done your dash, the Treaty Principles Bill was probably always going to die and absolutely will now because of the overwhelming public disdain for it, your submission will add to that - top work! The Regulatory Standards Bill is sneaking in behind, like a Slytherin behind Potter, and if passed could be a game changer for this country ... it's astounding. I can't say it better than Emily Writes, and her awesome Jan 6th post, OK fine, what submissions do I have to make FFS?! , "Don't worry - I got you. Here's everything you need in one place!" , so I won't: Bill : The Regulatory Standards Bill Do it by : 13 January 2024. Why should I care? This bill is the twin to the Treaty Principles Bill. So much so that you can use your submission for that bill as the template to this one. It has been described ...

"Right Wing" Comedians

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Too many people comfortably plump themselves into an army of one type or another . Surrounded by those that sound like you, listen to you intently whilst nodding, and echo your thoughts on why the fight is a good fight and that the other side are such bad terrible people. I used to be more like that than I am nowadays ... hmmmm, aren't we humans meant to become more conservative and reactionary as we age, strange Mike. These thoughts have me thinking of two UK comedians that have been tagged as "right wing", which is putting them into an army for the benefit of someone but, I suspect, not them. First up,  Simon Evans who makes me laugh when he's talking about his family, kids, and life in Brighton. He then hit my ears big time with: Simon Evans Goes to Market , has had six seasons, delighting audiences with his witty and insightful take on the comedically unpromising territory of economics, all of which prove among the most popular downloads on the Sounds App. On the...

W. C. Fields quotes

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The office has all been moved around - new desks (with starter handles to raise and lower them), new high(er) speed network and ... the same old work. At least I have a differing view of the world, my team (well, the team I'm a part of not "my" team) is a lot closer - finally - and it's like an office from the 80's ... or even a classroom. But I still have time to move the crap off the PC : ------ Any man who hates dogs and loves whiskey can't be all bad. Anyone who hates Dogs and Kids Can't be All Bad. Hey! Who took the cork off my lunch??! Who stole the cork from my breakfast? Now don't say you can't swear off drinking, it's easy. I've done it a thousand times. Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again. Then quit, no use being a damn fool about things. Madam, there's no such thing as a tough child - if you parboil them first for seven hours, they alwa...

The Cookie Time DC-3, I Found It

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Every Kiwi that has ever been on a roadtrip up / down State Highway 1 knows about the Mangaweka Cookie Time Douglas DC-3 café. You may stopped off and had a look around inside, the kids and I certainly have. But in 2021 it was suddenly gone, what happened? Well, it seems the plane was owned by two Mangawekan (?) business people who had a falling out. One dark and stormy night one decided to ship it away without the knowledge of the other (sort of). Shifting the plane meant they had to take the wings off first and now the body lives in Shannon at 2 Ballance Street, just next to the Club Hotel / bar.  Apparently it's being restored and will go back .. it won't. The wings, well who knows where they disappeared to but I understand they're not gonna be joining the body anytime soon. A little history lesson for us all: ZK-APK was delivered to the RNZAF in August 1945, then sold to the newly-formed National Airways Corporation (NAC) in 1947 and given the name Poaka. NAC was New Ze...

The Hīkoi Has You Charged Up But The Work Starts Now

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The submission form: https://www.parliament.nz/en/ECommitteeSubmission/54SCJUST_SCF_227E6D0B-E632-42EB-CFFE-08DCFEB826C6/CreateSubmission The hīkoi mō te Tiriti  was the calling card, a start, a bringing people together from across the nation so that the work can now begin. Why? The Act party is already rallying it's members around the messages it wants to flood the select committee with. It is here they think they can insert their divisive messages. Act, David Seymour, and his backers (notably Atlas, but also other foreign neoliberal billionaires) are willing to play the long game, this is merely the start for them. Having said that, I suspect they've probably taken a small step back due to the sheer amount of people saying, "No, we do not accept this" culminating in today's 45,000+ show of will, but that won't mean anything in the coming weeks. Tomorrow the hard work starts. Let's not get too work-y though, first up something simple, add you voice to the...