Posts

Showing posts from May, 2013

Miramar Town Centre Upgrade – Newsletter 5, 24 May 2013

Image
Just to make it very clear, what follows is NOT WRITTEN BY ME. I am NOT the project manager of the Miramar Town Centre Upgrade, that role is taken up by Kevin Murphy ( kevin.murphy@wcc.govt.nz ), someone I have never met but is doing an admirable job keeping us all up to date on the goings on via weekly emails that I am merely copy-pasting onto this blog. If you want to get the email yourself, and I heartily recommend it, then 'subscribe' by sending an email to  miramar@wcc.govt.nz Project home:  http://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/projects/miramar And so, on to this weeks update ... What’s happened this week Hawkins Construction has completed the installation of new kerb and channel along the Miramar Avenue and Park Road edges and laid new asphalt to blend in with the existing road surface.  Considering the difficulties involved in managing traffic while this work was being undertaken, the whole operation ran very smoothly. The contractor and I would like to th...
Reply

The Amazing Adventures of Victoria Clarke

Image
Can't remember where I stumbled across " The Amazing Adventures of Victoria Clarke ", I suspect it was a G+ post from the Steampunk community. I link the idea (although having Ms Clarke in her underwear all the time is a tad interesting) and I certainly hope that the project takes off. Here's a snippet from Ken Wallace's About page: Developed by Writer/Producer Kendrick Wallace, "The Amazing Adventures of Victoria Clarke” is the stylish and exciting story of the exploits of a female British agent living undercover in the United States in the 1920s as a Hollywood actress. The project is conceived of as an integrated package of materials: at its core it a is a tent-pole feature motion picture. Supporting the feature are a series of 10-15 minute serialized, high-quality webisodes,  a graphic novel and a mobile-platform video game. more ... Who is Ken(drick) Wallace:  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0908737/ And so, if this all tickles your fancy then yo...
Reply

Miramar Town Centre Upgrade – Newsletter 4, 17 May 2013

Image
Hmm, I wonder if the TelstraClear (sic. actually Vodafone) cable news below is why I'm still getting a pretty crap YoUTube service via the TV app. Project home: http://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/projects/miramar Update from last week’s newsletter The bus timetable for the number 2 and 18 services has now been moved to the temporary bus stop on Hobart Street. Greater Wellington Regional Council is making up some larger, more robust signs directing bus users to the location of the temporary bus stop. When these become available, they will be attached to the site fence near the old tram shelter. Some of you picked up on the disappearance, one day earlier this week, of the temporary public portaloo from outside the former Thai Restaurant. The portaloo was removed in error by the supplier who had incorrectly recorded the termination of the hire period. It was reinstated the following day and will remain in place until the new permanent public toilet has been installed. ...
Reply

Miramar Town Centre Upgrade – Newsletter 3, 10 May 2013

From the extremely personable Project Manager, Kevin Murphy Update from last week’s newsletter I have been asked why the bus timetable has not been moved to the temporary bus stop on Hobart Street. This is because the timetable is currently fixed to the wall of the tram shelter with special tamper-proof screws that require a special tool to remove them. Greater Wellington Regional Council, which is responsible for bus stop operations, is arranging for the timetable to be shifted. I understand local residents have been asking town centre retailers for more information about the project. Please let your friends and neighbours know that they can find this information on the Council’s website (go to Wellington.govt.nz/Your Council/Projects/Miramar ) or pick up a site plan from the Miramar Library or the Miramar Vet Hospital. If anyone you know has any queries, feel free to tell them to contact me.. I’m pleased to say we have been able to devise an alternative option for the installat...
Reply

Miramar Town Centre Upgrade – Newsletter 2 3 May 2013

I've asked Kevin (the named person on the weekly newsletter - sign-up by emailing miramar@wcc.govt.nz ) if he was OK me posting this and future updates on my blog? Then it can be shared to those not quite so e savvy on Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter ... he's said nothing yet so I'll take silence = compliance ;) Project home: http://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/projects/miramar Update from last week’s newsletter The temporary bus stop for the numbers 2 and 18 services has been located outside 157 Hobart Street. Apologies for any confusion caused by my reference last week to the no. 24 service also stopping at this location. Go Wellington – the bus company - has confirmed that the stop adjacent the Holy Cross Catholic Church on Miramar Avenue will be the temporary start point for this service. We have advised taxis to temporarily use the parking bay on Miramar Avenue outside the former Thai restaurant. We will not designate it as a taxi rank but they will be e...
Reply

Song About Miramar

Reply

Censorship Can Be Merely Other Peoples Playground Rules You Don't Like

Image
In the true manner of, "a man in a pub told me" I received this forwarded email from someone in da family a while ago: If this is true (bearing in mind the apparent censorship that has happened in the UK), then this is really serious... Via a retweet from Gervais: http://scriptonitedaily.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/facebook-censors-users-during-media-blackout-on-privatisation-of-the-nhs/ Sent from my iPhone My response ... Yip ... Facebook,. of course, has no need to explain itself as it's a privately owned (to all real means) US-based organisation. It is not a British media organisation it's not a "platform" - it is a privately owned website. Just like my blog, I get to choose what goes on it, so do they. If that's not understood then that's a little sad, eh. As for mainstream media in the UK, they are also private (well, privately run, owned by large financial organisations) that get to something similar. They are slightly less free ...
Reply

Popular articles

Regulatory Standards Bill: Submission Guidance & Assistance [Updated]

Image
*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]

Image
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

Image
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"

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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

Image
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...