July 13, 2010
The map of human sexuality
I thought I was well-travelled but confronted with a map like this I have to admit I haven't ventured far.Labels: sex
June 23, 2010
Visualizing the BP Oil Spill
If It Was My Home - Visualizing the BP Oil Spill
The scary thing is that it can well happen here too.
The scary thing is that it can well happen here too.
Labels: oil spill
June 21, 2010
Rugby, as it should be played
That mid-winter time-honoured perennial ritual, the nude rugby match in Dunedin, was upon us again at the weekend, with a hard-fought match between the Nude Blacks and the Welsh Leeks.TV3 has fantastic video footage of the match here, for which they are risking a telling off by the Broadcast Standards Authority because some anti-nude wowser group is planning to lay a formal complaint.
All sports should be played sans-clothes. It makes it worth participating, and watching!
Links to previous editions here.
Labels: nude rugby
June 19, 2010
Hahahahahahahahahaha
June 17, 2010
Rural Bachelor of the Year 2010
It's that time of year again when the days are shortest and thoughts go to snuggling up in the hay with your favourite farm hand.
Our perennial favourite is the Rural Bachelor of the Year Competition at the Hamilton Fieldays and this year's crop of eligible rural young(-ish) men isn't too shabby.
You can see all entrants here.
My favourite is:
Jacques Reinhardt
Region: Napier
DOB: 13/02/1988
Occupation: Stock Manager
Why should you be Fieldays 2010 Rural Bachelor of the Year? I should be the Fieldays 2010 Rural Bachelor of the Year because I’m driven and motivated to be the best farmer that I can possible be. I have a real passion for farming. I am also attractive and fun to be around and have a good sense of humour. I am very skilled all round the farm and at most things I do. I’m fit and athletic, love animals and people. I am knowledgeable about most varieties of farming. Very sociable and confident. I have a great personality and am very loving and caring.
And the good news? He won.
Our perennial favourite is the Rural Bachelor of the Year Competition at the Hamilton Fieldays and this year's crop of eligible rural young(-ish) men isn't too shabby.
You can see all entrants here.
My favourite is:
Jacques ReinhardtRegion: Napier
DOB: 13/02/1988
Occupation: Stock Manager
Why should you be Fieldays 2010 Rural Bachelor of the Year? I should be the Fieldays 2010 Rural Bachelor of the Year because I’m driven and motivated to be the best farmer that I can possible be. I have a real passion for farming. I am also attractive and fun to be around and have a good sense of humour. I am very skilled all round the farm and at most things I do. I’m fit and athletic, love animals and people. I am knowledgeable about most varieties of farming. Very sociable and confident. I have a great personality and am very loving and caring.
And the good news? He won.
Labels: totty
June 03, 2010
The trams are coming back
Almost 60 years after ripping up the tram lines in Auckland, the Regional Council has voted to bring them back. Of a sort, of course, not the whole efficient, environmentally friendly system that ran in the first half of the previous century before addiction to petrol fumes caused under-investment, neglect, buses, cars and motorways to take over.A new system will get its kick off with a heritage line connecting Britomart and the Wynyard Quarter, which won't be more than a tourist line. Even vintage tram cars will be used, like they do in Christchurch.
From the press release:
The project’s first phase will see heritage trams circuiting the 30 hectare redeveloped Wynyard Quarter linking it with the Britomart Transport Centre.It will be still a long way from a modern, fast and efficient system that can give private transport a run for their money, so to speak. Like this one:
The proposal was first brought to the ARC’s Transport and Urban Development Committee last year by the Campaign for Better Transport and Auckland’s Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT). Feasibility studies have been carried out by the ARC and Sea+City who developed a two phased proposal for the tramway.
Phase one will focus on Wynyard Quarter with a single track loop circuiting Gateway Plaza, Jellicoe Street, Halsey Street, Gaunt Street and Beaumont Street. This is planned to be ready in time for the Rugby World Cup.
Sidings at the western end of Jellicoe Street would house the trams in buildings beside the proposed Silo Park which is being designed to attract people to the western end of Jellicoe Street.
“The return of trams to Auckland’s streets will make a real point of difference for the Wynyard Quarter,” says ARC Chairman, Michael Lee.
“This is a modest beginning, but the longest journey starts with one small step.”
Phase two will see the trams linking to the CBD and connecting with existing public transport at Britomart and on Queen Street.
Labels: public transport, trams
May 12, 2010
The UK election in my universe
In my universe election outcomes should be strictly proportional with the number of seats allocated to party shares of the vote.
In the UK's case: 650 seats and 29,653,638 votes cast (sorry for those unable to vote, campaign for internet voting next time, please).
The threshold is 45,620 votes per seat.
The UK parliament 2010 would have looked like this (633 seat parliament as party votes that reach the treshold qualify for a seat): (difference with FPP outcome in brackets)
Conservative: 234 (-72)
Labour: 188 (-70)
Liberal Democrat: 149 (+92)
Democratic Ulster Party: 3 (-5)
Scottish National Party: 10 (+4)
Sinn Fein: 3 (-2)
Plaid Cymru: 3 (0)
Social Democratic & Labour Party: 2 (-1)
Green Party: 6 (+5)
Alliance Party: 0 (-1)
UK Independence Party: 20 (+20)
British National Party: 12 (+12)
Ulster Conservatives: 2 (+2)
English Democrats: 1 (+1)
The winning post is 317 seats. A Con-LibDem coalition Government would have 383 seats, compared to Lab-LibDem 337.
This means coalition talks would have been far more competitive than current, with real alternative majorities possible.
Let's hope the British come to their senses soon and offer the electorate a real choice everywhere, with votes at equal weighting and parties far clearer on their preferred coalition partners and bottom lines.
In the UK's case: 650 seats and 29,653,638 votes cast (sorry for those unable to vote, campaign for internet voting next time, please).
The threshold is 45,620 votes per seat.
The UK parliament 2010 would have looked like this (633 seat parliament as party votes that reach the treshold qualify for a seat): (difference with FPP outcome in brackets)
Conservative: 234 (-72)
Labour: 188 (-70)
Liberal Democrat: 149 (+92)
Democratic Ulster Party: 3 (-5)
Scottish National Party: 10 (+4)
Sinn Fein: 3 (-2)
Plaid Cymru: 3 (0)
Social Democratic & Labour Party: 2 (-1)
Green Party: 6 (+5)
Alliance Party: 0 (-1)
UK Independence Party: 20 (+20)
British National Party: 12 (+12)
Ulster Conservatives: 2 (+2)
English Democrats: 1 (+1)
The winning post is 317 seats. A Con-LibDem coalition Government would have 383 seats, compared to Lab-LibDem 337.
This means coalition talks would have been far more competitive than current, with real alternative majorities possible.
Let's hope the British come to their senses soon and offer the electorate a real choice everywhere, with votes at equal weighting and parties far clearer on their preferred coalition partners and bottom lines.
Labels: UK election 2010
May 03, 2010
Coromandel by ferry
Off we went for a grand day out yesterday to Coromandel by 360 Discovery Ferries, a dinky boat braving the Hauraki Gulf, Tamaki Strait and Firth of Thames. $69 return from Orapiu to Coromandel town was not too excessive, especially it's far more scenic, and actually faster, than by car or coach.
It seems to cater for tourists and locals alike, offering Coromandelites a fast-ish way to the big smoke and a timetable that allows for a good day out shopping.
On the return trip it called in at Pakatoa and Rotoroa Islands, both off-limits to mere mortals.
It seems to cater for tourists and locals alike, offering Coromandelites a fast-ish way to the big smoke and a timetable that allows for a good day out shopping.
On the return trip it called in at Pakatoa and Rotoroa Islands, both off-limits to mere mortals.
Labels: 360 Discovery, Coromandel
April 25, 2010
Voting for policies, part 2
Who should I vote for in Scotland? I expected the Scottish National Party bu the quiz recommends the Green Party. A coalition of those two should do the trick.
Take the Who Should You Vote For? Scotland quiz
| Green |  | 51 | ||
| Scottish National Party | | 47 | ||
| Liberal Democrat | | 27 | ||
| Labour | | 7 | ||
| UK Independence | -28 |  | ||
| Conservative | -55 | |
You expected: SNP
Your recommendation: Green
Labels: UK election 2010
April 18, 2010
They say mine, we say ours
April 16, 2010
Voting for policies
The British elections are upon us again and as usual there is a handy guide to voting based on matching your preferences to policies and advising you which party to vote for, rather than relying on shallow gimmicks like TV debates.
My result was rather predictable: massively Green Party with a hint of Liberal Democrat (well, Nick Clegg was the best looking one, if you permit me my moment of shallowness).
5 years ago, I was advised to vote Scottish National Party, not an option in the above survey.
So let's do that survey again (unfortunately it's the general UK one);
My result was rather predictable: massively Green Party with a hint of Liberal Democrat (well, Nick Clegg was the best looking one, if you permit me my moment of shallowness).
5 years ago, I was advised to vote Scottish National Party, not an option in the above survey.
So let's do that survey again (unfortunately it's the general UK one);
Take the Who Should You Vote For? England quiz
| Green | | 63 | ||
| Liberal Democrat | | 39 | ||
| Labour | | 11 | ||
| UK Independence | -30 | | ||
| Conservative | -59 | |
You expected: GRN
Your recommendation: Green
UPDATE: I re-did the quiz because it has been split up in regions and a question about Trident added. No significant change in result though.
Labels: Britain
April 09, 2010
Malcolm McLaren (1946-2010)
Malcolm McLaren, patron saint of rock band PR publicists and managers, Chelsea's version of the Wizard of Oz, cultural revolutionary and Situationist iconoclast, has died.
I've never met the man, but have always been amused by his tactics of getting up the noses of many in the establishment, from ITV hacks, Royal Jubilee organisers, tabloid newspaper editors and record company execs to even his former protégé, John Lydon.
He was always worth listening to, his cutting commentary on contemporary culture was always wry and biting. They could barely shut him up when he was on the radio or in nostalgic punk rock documentaries!
Of course he didn't invent punk rock or was its midwife and nanny, but you can't help but think subcultural history would have been different, much less infused with a 1968 ethos, if he hadn't been there. I'd like to remember him as the Daniel Cohn-Bendit of punk, channeling the zeitgeist of the late 1970s and nurturing it into something we can still feel vibrate today.
Labels: punk
April 08, 2010
Scandinavian humour is very droll (again)
What do Swedish men in their midlife crisis? After all that Ikea flat pack assembling, Volvo selling, Ericsson calling, Swedish au pair seducing lifestyle, they apparently feel a little flat like the rest of the 40 something male world and, incongruous as that may sound, call it a midlife crisis.
Nothing like a little Swedish droll humour to tackle the big issues in life (see Kitchen Stories), so a few of them have decided to join a male synchronised swimming team called "Sinking Men".
Dutch television station VPRO is showing a documentary about them and this is the promo:
Nothing like a little Swedish droll humour to tackle the big issues in life (see Kitchen Stories), so a few of them have decided to join a male synchronised swimming team called "Sinking Men".
Dutch television station VPRO is showing a documentary about them and this is the promo:
Labels: men
April 01, 2010
Sex shopping in the news
Stop the press: All Black and rugby mates are shopping for sex toys in Christchurch boutique. Owner spied (and recorded) the transactions but is surprisingly coy about it, considering her line of work.
What we want to know - and a good gossip columnist would tell us such essential details - is how big the dildos were the boys bought for each other.
What we want to know - and a good gossip columnist would tell us such essential details - is how big the dildos were the boys bought for each other.
Labels: sex in the news
