Weekend social 14/09/2012
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2:00 pm, September 14th, 2012 - 33 comments
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Weekend social is for non political chat. What’s on for the weekend, gigs, film or book reviews, sports, or whatever.
No politics, no aggro, why can’t we all just get along?
33 comments on “Weekend social 14/09/2012 ”
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A new Child Protection Investigation Unit is being established to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children in care, Minister for Children Karen Chhour says. “The report released by the Royal Commission into abuse in state care shows us all the risk of not acting immediately when there are serious ...13 hours ago - Speech at United States Business Summit 2024
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Ka mihi ki te mana whenua ko Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. Kia ora and good morning everyone. Thank you Fran and Simon for inviting me here today, and importantly your leadership of this forum over several years now. I want to acknowledge David Gehrenbeck, Deputy ...14 hours ago
- Record number of submissions received on granny flat proposal
Nearly 2,000 submissions have been received on the Government’s proposals aimed at making it easier to build a granny flat of up to 60 square metres without a resource or building consent, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk say. “This is the highest number ...15 hours ago
- District Court Judge appointed
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Rebecca Guthrie as a District Court Judge. Judge Guthrie was admitted to the bar in 1997 following her graduation from the University of Canterbury in 1996 (LLB, BA). She commenced her legal career in Hastings in 1997 before moving to London in ...16 hours ago
- Appointments strengthen Predator Free 2050
The latest Predator Free 2050 Board appointments will help to strengthen biodiversity efforts across Aotearoa New Zealand, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka says. Mr Potaka today announced two appointments to the Board of Directors of Predator Free 2050 Limited, a key player in the wider Predator Free 2050 Programme. “The Predator ...17 hours ago
- New facility in Christchurch will improve the lives of young New Zealanders
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey today opened Kahurangi, an innovative and much-needed facility for Canterbury’s Child, Adolescent, and Family Mental Health Services. “The new state of the art outpatient facility opened today will be a gamechanger for the way mental health is delivered for young people in Canterbury,” says Mr ...17 hours ago
- Driver safety screens to be installed on Auckland buses
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed news from the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) that bus driver protection screens will be installed across Auckland’s bus fleet by 2026.“The Government is committed to improving the safety of working environments for bus drivers, and Budget 2024 allocated $15 million of Crown funding over ...18 hours ago
- Government action provides Southland farmers more time to meet plan requirements
The Government is taking action to ensure Southland farmers and growers are not affected by unreasonable regional farm plan deadlines, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard say.“Cabinet has agreed to provide more time for farmers and growers to comply with regional rules ...1 day ago
- Bill reaffirms Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending
The Oranga Tamariki (Responding to Serious Youth Offending) Bill had its first reading at Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Government’s commitment to crack down on serious youth offending, Minister for Children Karen Chhour says. “In recent years we have seen an unacceptable spike in youth offending. “This Bill makes ...1 day ago
- Critical milestones for earthquake buildings review
Fairer, more sensible rules about managing earthquake risks are a step closer with the passing of legislation and the appointment of an independent chair to provide expert advice, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The Government is committed to reinvigorating our cities and regions to support economic growth, ...1 day ago
- State of the art radiology machine for Auckland
People in Northland and Auckland will benefit from a new machine for cancer treatment installed at the Regional Cancer and Blood Service at Auckland City Hospital. The MV5 linear accelerator, or LINAC machine, officially opened today targets cancer tumours with pinpoint accuracy. Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says this new, ...1 day ago
- Foreign Minister to visit Europe
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Europe for high-level talks with France, Germany and the United Kingdom next week. "Since taking office almost a year ago, the Coalition Government has emphasised the importance we place on New Zealand's traditional and likeminded diplomatic and ...2 days ago
- First arrests made under gang patch ban
Police have made their first arrests under the new gang patch legislation, with two gang members arrested, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “Just before 11 this morning, Police in Wairoa apprehended a gang member for wearing a patch to the supermarket. He has been arrested and will now face enforcement ...2 days ago
- Better support for victims of sexual violence
The Government is proposing two major changes to name suppression laws that will put the views of victims of sexual violence first, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “We are committed to restoring law and order and these two proposed changes will help ensure the victims of crime are put at ...2 days ago
- Government moving forward with Regional Deals
Cabinet has agreed to invite all regions to submit proposals for Regional Deals between central and local government that drive economic growth and deliver the infrastructure our country needs, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop say. Inviting all regions to propose a Regional Deal that boosts ...2 days ago
- MSA pilot participant update
One of the ten young men selected to participate in the Military-Style Academy Pilot has allegedly reoffended. Children’s Minister Karen Chhour is disappointed but says it would be naïve to think that none of these young men would reoffend. “I’m saddened that this young person has not taken this opportunity ...2 days ago
- Fighting for Kiwis in Trade
Delivered at Auckland Trade and Economic Policy School Good morning and thank you Deputy Vice Chancellor Lithander for your warm welcome and for inviting me to open Auckland Trade and Economic Policy School today. A Special thanks to the University of Auckland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and ...2 days ago
- Attendance rates increase, again
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that school attendance is continuing to rise. In Term 3 of 2024 51.3 per cent of students attended school regularly, an increase of 5.3 percentage points from 46 per cent in Term 3 of 2023. “This Government has prioritised student attendance and it is ...2 days ago
- Improving the lives of young New Zealanders
Ensuring New Zealand is the best place in the world for children and young people is the vision at the heart of the Government’s new Child and Youth Strategy, Child Poverty Reduction Minister Louise Upston says. “Childhood represents a huge opportunity to set people on a positive path towards living ...2 days ago
- Government continues work to reinstate livestock exports by sea
The Government is reinstating the trade of livestock exports by sea while ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare, says Associate Minister of Agriculture Andrew Hoggard.“The Government will introduce legislation changes to reinstate the trade, enhance oversight, and strengthen requirements for exporters to identify risks and manage the welfare of ...2 days ago
- Speech to the National Quality Forum 2024
Tēnā koutou katoa – it is a pleasure to be here today. I would like to begin by acknowledging the important leadership role you all play in ensuring a quality health system New Zealanders can trust. There is enormous clinical expertise in this room covering a wide range of disciplines. ...3 days ago
- New Zealand’s COP29 National Statement
Tēnā koutou katoa. Mr President, Excellencies, Delegates. New Zealand, and all nations represented here today, are already dealing with the impacts of climate change. Our households, businesses, and economies are bearing the costs of its effects. The choices we make now will shape the severity of these impacts for generations ...3 days ago
- Latest Quarterly Investment Report released
The Government has released its second Quarterly Investment Report (QIR) which shows substantial work still to be done by agencies to improve investment reporting and meet the Government’s expectations, Infrastructure and Acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “New Zealand has significant infrastructure and investment needs. The Government is determined to get ...3 days ago
- New Zealand supporting loss and damage fund
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced New Zealand will contribute NZ$10 million to the new Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage while at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan. “New Zealand is joining the global effort to address the significant challenge of responding to ...3 days ago
- Gang crackdown begins at stroke of midnight
The free ride for gangs is over when the clock strikes midnight tonight, with tough new laws officially coming into effect, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Police Minister Mark Mitchell say. “Gang patches will no longer be able to be worn in public. To earn the right to wear a ...3 days ago
- LGFA increases borrowing capacity to support high growth councils
The Government is welcoming the decision by the Local Government Funding Agency to increase access to financing tools for fast growing councils to support greater investment in critical infrastructure, Local Government Minister Simeon Brown says.“Communities across the country are facing an infrastructure deficit and significant population growth is projected in ...3 days ago
- Temporary Traffic Management costs revealed
The Government has revealed that over the past three years, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has spent an eyewatering $786 million of taxpayers’ money on road cones and temporary traffic management (TTM), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“When I became Minister, I was surprised to learn that that NZTA did ...3 days ago
- Jurisdiction of Disputes Tribunal to double
Legislation that will double the financial jurisdiction of the Disputes Tribunal from $30,000 to $60,000 has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith. “We need to improve court timeliness and access to justice so that Kiwis and get on with their lives. Court delays affect everyone, the ...3 days ago
- Protecting New Zealand from foreign interference
Legislation that will specifically criminalise foreign interference and strengthen espionage offences has passed first reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “It is normal and appropriate for states to interact and work to influence one another. This encourages cooperation and can have mutually beneficial outcomes. “However, the reality ...3 days ago
- Significant milestone for Canterbury Road of National Significance
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed news that the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board has approved funding towards pre-implementation and early works on the State Highway 1 (SH1) Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass Road of National Significance (RoNS). “Reaching this significant milestone is a reflection of our Government’s ...3 days ago
- Health survey results to help drive change
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says findings from the annual Health Survey highlight the need to continue driving better health outcomes for New Zealanders. The New Zealand Health Survey is an annual snapshot of key metrics measured from July 2023 – July 2024. Findings released this morning include: In 2023/24, ...4 days ago
- Final push needed to get to Smokefree 2025
A renewed effort to get people to quit smoking will build on what has worked to date and target the groups who most need support, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello said today. “The latest New Zealand Health Survey results show the daily smoking rate at 6.9 per cent and we ...4 days ago
- New diplomatic appointments
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced four new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign ...4 days ago
- Next steps for Regulatory Standards Bill
Regulation Minister David Seymour has today announced the next steps in the Government’s plan improve the quality of regulation by opening consultation on a proposed Regulatory Standards Bill. “New Zealand's low wages can be blamed on low productivity, and low productivity can be blamed on poor regulation,” says Mr Seymour. ...4 days ago
- Red Tape Tipline goes live
Minister for Regulation David Seymour has today announced that the Ministry for Regulation’s Red Tape Tipline is now live. “We want to hear about your red tape horror stories. From today, New Zealanders will have a say on how they are regulated through an online portal,” says Mr Seymour. The ...4 days ago
- Youth Parliament 2025 announced
The Minister for Youth Matt Doocey has today announced the eleventh Youth Parliament will be taking place in 2025. “Youth Parliament offers a unique youth development opportunity to young people from across New Zealand to experience the political process and learn about how government works,” says Mr Doocey. “The two-day ...4 days ago
- Police stats show promising change
After nearly a year in Government, Kiwis have seen significant change across law and order with promising early results shown across some Police statistics, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. “In August 2023, I told New Zealanders that if they had not started to see a change in public safety within ...5 days ago
- Better coordination of anti-scam efforts
With the launch of Fraud Awareness Week, the Government is committing to new coordination efforts across industry and government to combat online scams, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Online financial scams are a growing problem for New Zealand. New data released today shows that Kiwis lost nearly ...5 days ago
- Minister to consider 7AA select committee report
Minister for Children Karen Chhour will consider the recommendations made by the Social Services and Community Committee in its report back to Parliament on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill. “I want to thank the people who made submissions and those who appeared before the committee in ...5 days ago
- Defence Minister to attend ASEAN meeting
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Vientiane, Laos. “We need to take every opportunity to engage with our international partners, given the increasingly unstable geo-political situation,” Ms Collins says. “New Zealand has a long-standing commitment to this ...5 days ago
- Maritime Union joins opposition to live export shipments
The Maritime Union also has zero faith in government assurances of a gold standard for ships used for the trade. ...6 hours ago - Offshore oil and gas ban ‘worst political decision’, Shane Jones says
Shane Jones says the offshore oil and gas ban is "the worst political decision" he has ever been involved with. ...7 hours ago
- Andrew Bayly ‘loser’ incident: Frantic texts, thumbs-up from PM, photo of drinking from ...
A series of frantic text messages from Andrew Bayly to government staffers amid scrutiny over his actions at a winery have been revealed. ...8 hours ago
- ACT’s David Seymour won’t ‘bow down’ to his hapū leaders
They have pleaded with the ACT leader to stop what they say are abusive violations of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. ...10 hours ago
- Former political figure who abused teens loses name suppression
However, his name remains under wraps as he has already indicated he will appeal. ...10 hours ago
- Educating young people about social media would be far more effective than a ban – Finland can sh...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Grantham, Lecturer in Communication, Griffith University Shutterstock The federal government’s proposed social media ban for under-16s has sparked widespread debate, affecting millions of young Australians, their families and educators. But will it actually work? While the aim behind this ban ...10 hours ago - Ant stings can be painful. Here’s how to avoid getting stung this summer (and what to do if you do...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sam Robinson, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland AG-PHOTOS/Shutterstock With the start of summer just days away, many of us will be looking forward to long sunny days spent at the beach, by the pool, out ...10 hours ago
- Is using the Future Fund for housing, energy and infrastructure really ‘raiding Australia’s nest...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Crosby, Professor, Monash University Chichimaru/Shutterstock Australia has a seriously big “nest egg”. The Future Fund – our sovereign wealth fund set up in 2006 – now manages about $230 billion. Specifically, its remit is to “invest for the benefit ...10 hours ago
- Women are less likely to receive CPR than men. Training on manikins with breasts could help
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Stokes-Parish, Assistant Professor in Medicine, Bond University Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock If someone’s heart suddenly stops beating, they may only have minutes to live. Doing CPR (cardiopulmonary resusciation) can increase their chances of survival. CPR makes sure blood keeps pumping, providing oxygen to ...11 hours ago
- The Friday Poem: ‘Boyhood’ by Art Nahill
A new poem by Art Nahill. Boyhood I hate the way the dog cowers when I raise my voice. After all this time together she’s still not sure what I’m capable of. As kids with too much time we sprinkled salt on slugs plucked from summer gardens watched them shrivel ...13 hours ago - The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending November 22
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Jonathan Cape, $26) The slight, superb winner of the Booker Prize ...13 hours ago
- ‘Wanted’ for war crimes over Gaza: Israel’s Netanyahu, Gallant face ICC arrest warrants
Democracy Now! NERMEEN SHAIKH: In The Hague, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during Israel’s assault on Gaza. In a statement, the ICC said the Israeli leaders had, ...14 hours ago
- New Child Protection Investigation Unit announced by Children’s Minister
The unit will be up and running by early next year, Children's Minister Karen Chhour says. ...14 hours ago
- In-person submissions on Treaty Principles Bill to be at Parliament or by video call
In-person submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill will all be held at Parliament or by video call. ...14 hours ago
- ‘Got my support’ – Christopher Luxon stands by Erica Stanford after ‘stupid ...
The prime minister says it wasn't appropriate behaviour but that Erica Stanford had apologised. ...14 hours ago
- Gang chapter president’s patch seized in first 24 hours of ban
The first arrest was made just three minutes after midnight, with 11 more to come. ...15 hours ago
- Government slammed for pushing on with boot camps amid trial
Labour has accused National of ignoring the evidence. ...15 hours ago
- The unspoken rule of conversation that explains why AI chatbots feel so human
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Celeste Rodriguez Louro, Chair of Linguistics and Director of Language Lab, The University of Western Australia Rroselavy / Shutterstock Earlier this year, a Hong Kong finance worker was tricked into paying US$25 million to scammers who had used deepfake technology to ...15 hours ago
- Who were Caracalla and Geta, the cruel and unhinged Roman brother emperors depicted in Gladiator II?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Hanaghan, Senior Research Fellow in Latin Christianity in Late Antiquity, Australian Catholic University Warning: this article contains mild spoilers. When Gladiator I was released in 2000, I was a high school Classics student and the film brought Classical literature to life ...15 hours ago
- Gang patch ban: The first 24 hours
The first arrest was made just three minutes after midnight, with 11 more to come. ...16 hours ago
- New Zealand Government Urged To Back ICC Arrest Warrants For Israeli Leaders Without Equivocation
“We are waiting for our government to announce it will arrest Netanyahu and Gallant immediately if they set foot in Aotearoa New Zealand” says PSNA National Chair John Minto. ...16 hours ago - Justice Committee Makes Further Decisions About Submissions Process For The Principles Of The Treaty...
The committee plans to hold hearings in the week starting Monday, 27 January and the weeks starting 10, 17 and 24 February 2025. ...16 hours ago
- Watch live: Christopher Luxon faces questions during power station visit
It comes as Labour accuses National of not listening to evidence about boot camps. ...16 hours ago
- Survivors of abuse in care know how redress should work – will the government finally listen?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Winter, Associate Professor in Political Theory, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images When Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stood in Parliament last week to apologise to survivors of abuse in care, his words were among many fine speeches by ...17 hours ago
- Review: The Day of the Jackal is a riveting and ridiculous ride
Eddie Redmayne’s globe-trotting assassin thriller on TVNZ is worth putting your phone down for. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. This is a vulnerable thing to say as someone who often writes about television for a job, but boy am I really ...17 hours ago
- RNA editing is the next frontier in gene therapy – here’s what you need to know
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flora Hui, Research Fellow, Centre for Eye Research Australia and Honorary Fellow, Department of Surgery (Ophthalmology), The University of Melbourne IoanaB/Shutterstock The United States Food and Drug Administration has just approved the first-ever clinical trial that uses CRISPR-Cas13 RNA editing. Its ...18 hours ago
- Yes, you still need to use sunscreen, despite what you’ve heard on TikTok
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Lee, PhD Candidate, Dermatology Research Centre, The University of Queensland Karolina Grabowska/Pexels Summer is nearly here. But rather than getting out the sunscreen, some TikTokers are urging followers to chuck it out and go sunscreen-free. They claim it’s healthier ...18 hours ago
- Humans are killing off the old and wise animals that hold nature together. Here’s what must change
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keller Kopf, Senior Lecturer in Ecology, Charles Darwin University Laxmikant Ameenagad, Shutterstock In humans and other animals, ageing is generally associated with a decline in biological function. But scientists are now discovering older animals perform vital roles in populations and ecosystems. ...18 hours ago
- A man scouring Google Earth found a mysterious scar in the Australian outback – and now scientists...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matej Lipar, Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Curtin University Author provided/Google Earth Earlier this year, a caver was poring over satellite images of the Nullarbor Plain when he came across something unexpected: an enormous, mysterious scar etched ...18 hours ago
- Design as a movement: how First Nations people take ownership of their cultural stories through fash...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Treena Clark, Chancellor’s Indigenous Research Fellow, Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney Once located 250 metres to the east of the Art Gallery of South Australia, the grand beaux-arts style Jubilee Exhibition Building was constructed to house the ...18 hours ago
- ‘We need more doctors’ – Support for new Waikato medical school
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says a third medical school and more students in Auckland and Otago are both needed. ...19 hours ago
- Cricket balls can concuss and even kill batters – at all levels, helmet use must be taken seriousl...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Annette Greenhow, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Bond University Linda George/Shutterstock The ten-year anniversary of the death of much-loved Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes falls on November 27. The 25-year-old’s life was tragically cut short in 2014 when a bouncer ...19 hours ago
- Hold the roosters, no economic dawn yet
Treasury likely to downgrade economic forecast while Chris Bishop says the government won’t be ‘a slave to a surplus’, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Recession will be deeper and last longer — Treasury At a recent Spinoff ...20 hours ago
- Knowing superstitions aren’t real doesn’t stop us behaving superstitiously – why?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephanie Gomes-Ng, Senior Lecturer of Psychology, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Former New Zealand prime minister John Key has three white rabbits painted on his helicopter, a nod to his “massively superstitious” habit of repeating “white rabbits” three times at ...21 hours ago
- Government slammed for pushing ahead with boot camps while trial still under way
The coalition has "absolutely no intention of listening to the evidence that comes out of their experiment", Labour MP says. ...22 hours ago
- Smoke and mirrors in heated tobacco debate
Labour claims Government is ‘cherry-picking’ smoking trends data to hide decade-first increase in daily smokers The post Smoke and mirrors in heated tobacco debate appeared first on Newsroom. ...22 hours ago - Smoke and mirrors in tobacco debate
Labour claims Government is ‘cherry-picking’ smoking trends data to hide decade-first increase in daily smokers The post Smoke and mirrors in tobacco debate appeared first on Newsroom. ...22 hours ago
- Treasury bangs the drum on ‘unsustainable’ superannuation
The Government’s economic adviser is sending a message it doesn’t want to hear – superannuation is increasingly unaffordable The post Treasury bangs the drum on ‘unsustainable’ superannuation appeared first on Newsroom. ...22 hours ago
- Victims of sex offending welcome shift on name suppression laws
A man abused by a former political figure is "immensely relieved" at a government proposal to end secrecy around sex offenders' identities. ...22 hours ago
- This week three parties stood together – can they withstand the storm to come?
There is plenty yet to play out, but the next election is at this rate shaping up as trio versus trio, writes Toby Manhire. A subplot of this week’s historic hīkoi mō te Tiriti has been the sight of the three opposition parties presenting a unified front. Te Pāti Māori ...22 hours ago
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dress up party…
I watched “City of God”. Grim, but very well done – sometimes felt more like a documentary than a movie.
Glad you enjoyed it. It was based on real events (those obviously dramatised).
I have been on a Breaking Bad bender. God damn fine show
How far through are you?
pizza oven workshop
Yah, fuck man, tell me what you learn. I bought a pizza stone recently but still fuck it up.
Serious amount of work done properly and many things can go wrong as a novice.
Bunnings have a decent one for about 1,500, takes 4-6 people to lift the box. YouTube it, there’s plenty of DIY entries.
Trial and error, get the stone real hot and watch carefully. Many pizza ovens don’t cut it, I swear by oven thermometers and move them about to suss out the overall performance.
Been watching 1 hour long episodes of A History of Scotland (got it on youtube), comes in 10 parts and is as good as (probably better than) the Schama series on Britain. Gonna watch the last 3, fascinating.
Yeah I watched the history of Britain series not to long ago.
Last weekend I got my nerd on and watched the Grim Face of Power about Muldoon on the Saturday and spent my Sunday watching, extremely hungover, the entire 4 part Revolution documentary about the 4th Labour govt and beyond back to back.
Love the get the “nerd on”. Met Piggie years back, party lad par excellence, should have stayed at the party and we might all have loved him.
I got home from a rather…err… psychedelic party some years back and watched a Lawrence Krauss lecture on cosmology. That was some fun shit.
In fact, while other people might have a few beers and watch COPS I watch lectures and the like on youtube. Not that i don’t like COPS I should add
One of the things I love about the new place (actually it is my old apartment that we have been out of for three and half years – but newly renovated) is that I haven’t had the time/money/inclination to connect the TV aerial. This has proved to be of little importance because we’re steadily grinding our way through stuff available on the internet.
The way that this operates is that the newish sony bluray player knows about a whole pile of online media. Connect the player to the sony bravia TV (ln insusted we brought soething to play her dico on) and hey presto we have a whole pile of QuickFlix (for $10/mo), ziln (free & subscribe), and other crap that I haven’t investigated yet.
The reason why this was of interest. Ziln has somewhere in it a bloody great big pile of NZ On air doco’s. Including many of the ones from our right column. Once we get through all of the old british TV…
I’m very happy with having no TV aerial. I don’t miss the ads at all. There were bugger all programs worth watching after TVNZ7 was shutdown. And sky is useless because it has too many pseudo-ads and is a un-interactive broadcast medium. The news and current affairs has become quite dumbed down over the years – generally not worth watching.
Right now (and this isn’t anything more than a observation – not really hard politics) I’m all for completely cutting the NZ on-air budget, flogging off TVNZ to the highest bidder (because I think it is unrecoverable), and putting ALL of the money into regional channels, local films, documentaries, and radio NZ. I can’t see why I want to subsidize advertisers, and the net is getting to have a wide enough pipe and tech to play TV from the net on my TV cheaply.
BTW: ziln also has this interesting section OpenMic. I wonder where they got that idea and possibly the graphic from…. (not that I care). Might have something to do with that guy I was talking at NetHui in 2011.
BTW2: Does anyone want to play the wiggles? Then please do it at your own damn place! The biggest hassle with the bluray is that there appear to be no way to remove things from the list. However there is a way to designate “inappropiate” content. The Wiggles qualify…
I finally got the cable to connect my computer to the tv, but the picture was off to the right so I couldn’t use the arrows. Which made it all but useless. Spent hours trying to fix it to no avail. I guess I could get it set up to watch a film on the computer screen and then connect it, but I’d prefer to be able to use my computer as usual with the tv as the monitor.
Thanks for the links. I see Kim dot Com has pretty much taken over open mic so far. Plenty of scope for talented Standard readers and writers to create….
Sounds like you have the resolution wrong. The dotcom songs were pretty amusing…
I’d have a lot more time for Dotcom if he stopped making those shitty songs and dropped the phoney-baloney free speech matyr act.
The music isn’t that good, and I don’t have much time for him.
I do have quite a lot of time for his case though. The procedural and legal holes in the cases before, during and after the seizures and arrests in all countries are such that you could drive a bus through them. It is good to see that our judges are. IMO it is going to wind up as being a complete clusterfuck for everyone from the FBI to RIAA to our police because there doesn’t appear to be any law covering their actions in shutting down the servers or the arrests under any existing criminal laws unless they start trying to redefine it as a terrorist organisation.
The civil cases are going to be hugely expensive. I suspect that the parties laying complaints to the FBI will be in the gun for this as well. That will be quite amusing
Lynn. Was that a big ‘thunbs up’ to the Pirates party you just gave through that link? Bit of an oopsie? Makes me feel not so bad about 3.2.1. 😉
If it was ziln then it was whatever they had on. Was watching Bernard Hickey there tonight.not bad.
“flogging off TVNZ to the highest bidder”
You mean asset sales?
And yeah, I have 92 channels of crap. The only thing I watch is Fox News – Sean Hannity specifically because he is a deluded blow hard.
Yep. I just don’t like selling natural monopolies. But that is a topic for a different post.
Hell yeah, sell it before its worth nothing. Ellis drove it into the dust under his masters orders.
I’m looking at a second free view dish to look at Optus D2 satellite as the feed from D2 to D1 (sky,freeview) which carried SBS got canned earlier this year.
Worth it if I can get a box the gets SBS AND ABC digital channels on the Tasmania footprint.
Does Sky still have RT News?…Its a great channel for news about the US, and its Russian propaganda is good for a laugh.
Beats me. I realized 4 years ago that I’d exchanged small numbers of channels of broadcast crap and ads for dozens of channels. I still couldn’t find anything to watch. Moreover, the price of DVDs of TV series was dropping and there was a lot of stuff on point to point media like YouTube. So I quit sky.
The last vestiges of broadcast were some comedy shows, but the ads are irritating. Easier to wait for the DVD’s. Now the aerial isn’t working – what a disaster.. Not.. So I quit broadcast media.
Cracker anyone? 2nd series.
I got rid of my TV about a year ago, I now go through 60gig a month, and still spend the same amount of time in front of a screen.
The one downside I have noticed is that I no longer watch a full news bulletin, as a result I do not get the news on things that don’t grab my attention. My news is much more narrow…but the benefits far outweigh this.
Telstra cable is great for streaming regardless of the time of day.
I also youtube news…RT releases a lot of stuff on their channel – http://www.youtube.com/user/RussiaToday/videos?view=0
The 10th series of QI begins on Saturday in the UK
http://www.youtube.com/user/quite1nteresting?feature=CAQQwRs%3D
8 out of 10 cats is a sharp panel show
http://www.youtube.com/user/jnpolzin/videos?flow=grid&view=0
Nathan Barley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06AS8SiY3rw&feature=related
Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO8F1HJjzkA
it never ends…
Hey Nick, I’ve been watching that history show on choice tv on freeview on Monday nights. Its’ really refreshing to hear the story of Scotland from a Scot, instead of a Brit. I like that the presenter is doing a little myth busting too. Like the first king NOT being Kenneth MacAlpine. I’d be interested to see what else he has to say as he goes on. Great show.
Erm. you do realise that it was done by BBC Scotland. And that will always betray a certain protestant and union bias. Just saying. And sorry for possibly entering a bit of politics into the ‘weekender’.
Having said that, I watched all the episodes (streaming) some time back and some of the stuff is definately interesting. Shame abouot the wee gnaff they have as a presenter though – total fucking embarrassment.
Yes, I do realise it was produced by BBC Scotland. And sure that guy that presents it does kind of remind of Nigel Latta which is a bit disturbing but non the less it IS presented by a Scot from a Scots viewpoint. I welcome that as most history shows are so Brit centric and often demomise The Celts and their history. Yes there are proddys and unionists within Scots history but there were also Jacobites. They were my ancestors and I’m proud of their history as I am of my Irish.
I get tired of the hostility on this site. Weekend Social is the one place that is usually free of that. Hostility serves no purpose to a group of like minded people. The old Scots clans could tell you that. Perhaps if they had stood in unity, rather than continuing old feuds, they could have had the strength to keep the Brits at bay and retain an independant nation
Hi Rosy. Don’t want to get into a debate on the history of Scotland and England; union of crowns and so on.
So, on a positive note, if you want a very good and informative short history of the Celts (and others!), you won’t do much better than this
http://www.infocobuild.com/books-and-films/social-science/terry-jones-barbarians.html
Enjoy 🙂
There was a similar docu on Choice TV do with British pre-history up to the Roman period. Bloody good, but it’s not available for sale to the public: http://www.bbcactivevideoforlearning.com/1/Search.aspx?PageIndex=0&SeriesID=24055
And I can’t find it via torrents either sadly 🙁
edit – fuck yes, found it, the series is also called “a celtic history of britain” Now to find it all :3
The bees are buzzing (saw a few bumbles last week) which means things are kicking off in the garden. Please everybody go and plant some blue flowers / crops, bees love them for some reason. Am going to spread a few seeds in places they are not supposed to be. We have to look after these guys in the towns because modern agriculture is killing them. That is my theory anyway, and even if it is wrong the more bees the merrier..
Going to watch some rugby, seems very silly to me that the fishing season is weeks off and we still have a couple of months of rugby to go. Madness. cant be bothered with the test: the Shield game better, go the Naki.
Saw my first wasp some four or five weeks back. And thought ‘Oh, fuck’. Live in the south of the S. Island btw. Looking to a stinger of a summer.
Yeah el niño AND a solar sunspot peak AND the ever rising climate changes – all in the coming year. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…*
This would be a good summer to have a long holiday near a deep mountain fed lake. Next summer will be even better..
It may be a bad summer for the dams.
* working programmers# are adverse to excessively good weather. They like to live in caves** with open windows and get bored with aircond. They tend to hibernate in summer in a sloppy haze pining for bad weather.
** because monitors hate competing with the sun..
# corporate programmers live in aircond, attend meetings, don’t stick their bare feet on the desk while thinking, never have their workstations running as a breadboard, and don’t really work at writing actual working code. They mostly patch patches and dream of greenfields. So please, let’s not describe them as working programmers……
Should get out in the garden this weekend, but I’m still stuffed from a job I did on Wednesday, with my right arm complaining elbow, wrist and shoulder wise…
And I’m so going to tell an employer they’re dreaming if they think over 3 cubic metres of soil can be moved in under 6 hours by hand by one person.