Auschwitz liberation ceremonies

It's good to remember the past horrors and have a look at the naked cynicism on display at official commemorations such as the Auschwitz one this week.
Russian President Putin's speech really irked me for being sanctimonious. He could have mentioned his own country's past gulags and its contemporary hell-hole Chechnya, where policies, conditions and just sheer horror are not that far removed from the Nazi examples.
And French President Jacques Chirac could have said sorry for the complicity of the Vichy regime and local collaborators in the French police force in the deportations.
But no, all hollow words and faith-based pronouncements for the future and "how it should never happen again, ever".
I visited the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar in 1983. It sure was a very moving experience. More of a work-you-to-death camp than a gas chamber facility, but what really struck me was the huge variety of inmates that were interned there. There were a lot of political prisoners (domestic and from the occupied territories) and Russian POWs, but also other minorities, presumably selected for their work capabilities (the camp was built and maintained entirely by prison labour).

The liberation of the camps at the end of the war spelled the end of the horrors for many a lucky survivor, but I prefer to spare a thought for the homosexual inmates who, due to their contemporary legal status as criminals (paragraph 175, which outlawed gay sex, was still in force), just swapped one prison for another. There was no gay Israel for the pink triangle wearers to emigrate to.

Waiheke Island bus foul up

Now that we on Waiheke Island are a major suburb of Auckland, and we contribute disproportionally to the rating base (you didn't think you could get away with your nice shiny mansions on your rock and not pay for the mainland plebs, never mind the potholed roads, pandering to off-island developers and cynical attempts to make you pay for your new shiny reticulation systems, did you?), commuting from the island is a daily reality for over a 1,000 islanders.
Last Saturday, I waited for my usual 7.45 Waiheke bus to the ferry terminal, and dutifully (it was Saturday morning after all, what was I thinking!) arrived at the bus stop at 7.30. By 8.30 I was still waiting there, the 8.00 ferry long gone over the horizon. Asking the bus driver of the next bus for an explanation was useless, of course. So I was reduced to filling in a complaint's form at the ferry terminal. No reply or acknowledgement to date, unsurprisingly.

I did a little digging of my own, and I found out that the phantom bus did exist after all, only its driver decided that my bus stop wasn't worthy of serving, so he took a different route to Matiatia. Perhaps bus drivers feel so alienated in their jobs, what with always having to go the same way at set times and deal with the great unwashed that want to board, that he thought a little creativity in re-routing his journey on Saturday morning would be a hoot.

Well, bugger to you too, mate.

A combined Stagecoach/Fullers Ferry/Waiheke Bus pass costs $245 per month. By all comparisons, this is a first class fare but all you get is cattle class service.

UPDATE 3 FEBRUARY: after a reminder email to Fullers they finally apologised for the mistake. The driver too the wrong turn unconsciously and proceeded to the ferry by-passing Surfdale that morning.

Sculpture on the Gulf '05

Our Prime Minister Helen Clark will open the 2005 edition of Sculpture on the Gulf exhibition on Waiheke Island. It's the second time it has been organised and the 2003 edition was really rather marvellous. Large sculpture really looks brilliant outdoors and especially framed by the gulf islands and city views along the coastal path.
There is another open air sculpture art gallery/museum Middelheim in Antwerpen, which does justice to classical and contemporary art in a park setting.
Bring a picnic and enjoy an evening's walk, the sunsets are beautiful. The exhibition ends on 13 February.
It's free and vaut le voyage to Waiheke!

Bus lane questions

Why are the bus lanes in the suburbs only? Why are there no bus lanes where they are actually sorely needed, i.e. in Queen Street, Albert Street, Customs Street and Victoria Street, where there is a huge amount of buses always stuck in other traffic.

Grey Lynn bus stop configuration

Who on earth decides on the siting of bus stops, and why are they always at the maximum inconvenience for bus users?
In Grey Lynn, along the Surrey Shops on Gt North Road, several bus lines converge and then split off to downtown either via Gt North Rd or Williamson Ave. When you want to catch a bus to downtown, you basically have to gamble which one will turn up first and choose your bus stop. There is no way to be able to catch the first one to turn up.
Re-siting the bus stop along Gt North Rd in front of the Civic Video store would be a simple and elegant solution, but my guess is that it is simply too elegant a solution to be implemented - especially since only 2 years ago the roading people redesigned the current bus stops at great expense. Those road and stop designers obviously never take a bus!
Any other examples in your area?

News from home

It's a long-standing joke that Dutch people go to Belgium if they want to have a decent meal, and now it has been confirmed again that Belgium is one of the top culinary destinations in the world. The Michelin Guide for ultra-foodies has awarded a further 9 stars to Belgian restaurants, and now has three 3-star eateries, which means they are vaut le voyage ("worth the trip").
The Flemish version of the news item has a dig at Dutch cuisine, because they only got two 2-star restaurants. Luxembourg has one 2-star establishment.
I miss Belgian soulfood here in New Zealand, but I'm luckily well taken care off, and the Belgian pubs in New Zealand all deserve stars too, such as the ones I've been to: The Occidental in Vulcan Lane, De Fontein in Mission Bay, De Post in Mt Eden, Leuven in Wellington. (A complete New Zealand list)
Disclaimer: I have always paid for my meals there.

Something for the weekend, Sir?

Nothing like a bit of relaxation and good humoured ribbing to ease oneself into the weekend. Here's a good one: The 100 Worst Porn Movie Titles.
My favourites are #75, #90 and #108. (Ooh-err, sounds like ordering at your local Chinese food emporium)
Link via World O'Crap

Four More Years

But it doesn't look like Mr President will be uniting the states any time soon.
This from Democratic Veteran:

Of course, it's also interesting that with all the crap thrown at the wall by the warfloggers in re CBS/Rather and the typically-shitty journalism they did on the absolutely true AWOL story, no one has ever been able to tell me why Preznit Constantly Failing Upwards never got promoted past First Lieutenant. Today, the deserting little shit is sending Americans off to face horrors he studiously avoided despite the ultra-sweet deal of guarding south Texas from the VC. Making 0-3 in every branch of the service is a pretty simple affair, and usually automatic for a rated aviator...unless of course you're a complete fuckwit waste of a human being. Gee, who might that describe? Funny how the swiftshits never, ever could come up with an answer for that. It saddens me that many, many honorable men (well, not any more) bought into and backed that steaming pile of swiftshit dogshit for partisan ideological reasons. They proved that they'll support a chickenshit buttwipe for no other reason than pure partisan hackery. How sad. In other times, they would not have given the drunken, coked-up worm the time of day or the sweat off their balls...now they're whores of the worst kind. And they own part of the decline of America, something they fought for...

Way to go, Jo!
And the best commentary on Bush's inauguration speech came from Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Advisor to President Carter, on the PBS News Hour:

If the speech is taken seriously, I think people will be concerned, because they'll wonder whether this is a statement of a crusade. But if it isn't taken seriously, if it's viewed as a ceremony, then it will be dismissed as a nice statement which perhaps reflects the president's views but which is really not a program of action. And I don't think we should assess this speech as a program of action. It may be a testimonial of his deepest beliefs, but it really doesn't tell us anything about his strategy. It repackages his attitude, instead of talking about fear, which he's been talking a lot about in the last four years, creating in effect a fear-driven nation. He talks about freedom. Instead of talking about terror, he talks about tyranny. [...] So the themes are a little different. It's freedom versus tyranny. But where are the tyrannies? In fact, the really serious tyrannies are the ones we have to deal with. And we're not going to deal with them the way we have dealt with Iraq. So as a statement of a program, it's vacuous. As a sermon, it's nice, it's moving, and has some elegant moments, but it's vacuous.

Big Day Out

Today the assorted hordes of subcultural babes and cool dudes have their annual jamboree in the sunshine. You spot them a mile off and they were packing the boat this morning to town. Girls with far too much flesh showing that is good for them in these ozone-depleted days, and the boys in oversized black Ts and trousers. Why can't the boys show a little bit of form and flesh? The 3rd millennium's male fashion trends are terrible so far. Even Vivienne Westwood's new men's collection wasn't that awe inspiring as is usual. Although some of her designs did it for me:
The Sydney Morning Herald wrote:

The eccentric style of British designer Vivienne Westwood has always been an expression of her particular fashion view.
Kilts for men outside the realm of Celtic lore, a return to the high heels fashionable at the French court, or sequined long-johns are certainly not for the unimaginative customer.
But as the designer has said on more than one occasion, "One leads a much more interesting life if one wears impressive clothes".
For next summer, she introduces hand-painted silk kilts, worn with a cotton T-shirt. The collection, also presented yesterday, includes sequined baseball shirts, running pants with a strap that binds the two legs together, Oliver Twist caps, oversized bow ties, and her trademark handmade suit, which represents the best in Savile Row tailoring.

R.I.P.

Wellington blogger, The Grey Shade, has died. Always a thoughtful and pleasureable read. My condolences to all who knew him.

Bernice and Dion endorse New Zealand flag change

My fellow Waiheke Islanders, Bernice Mene and Dion Nash, once upon a time sports stars / now part time TV announcers/advertisers power couple, have joined the campaign to change the New Zealand flag.
I never cared much about cricket or netball, the chosen metiers of said power couple (players wear far too many clothes), but Dion is one of the best looking males on our island, so every mention deserves a plug. He's got stiff competition though!

As far as the flag thing is concerned, I think it's a good idea to change and the alternatives on offer are varied, colourful and original but I have a difficult time choosing one to replace our colonial flutterer.
Here are my (current) favourites:

My all-time favourite isn't actually on the list of alternatives. (It was used as the symbol for the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch some decades ago, and now also used on t-shirts by a local label designer):

Useless inventions

I've been a little bit behind in catching up with the news this week, but what inspired me lately was the report on a "gay bomb", which would make enemy soldiers so horny for each other they will forget about shooting guns at GIs and instead shoot cum.
Now this is a fun concept, methinks. At least much more fun than doing all that bloody killing.
First, the gay bomb will need to be set off like a piece of firework, so the boys go all ooh-ing and ahhh-ing, very much like a lot of heterosexual foreplay.
Then, imagine this love bomb as a giant bottle of amyl-nitrate left opened on the battle field. Soldiers discarding their weapons and getting out of their gear to get all runty and forget about the war. Fighting morale would not only be diminished among enemy troops but soldiers from all sides may want to join in that great orgy! Wearing gasmasks with a small cannister of amyl attached is really great for morale on the battlefield of love - but I digress.
Since so many have been fired from the US armed forces for homosexual behaviour, it's clear they have been testing this love bomb for a while now. Only, it wouldn't work too well against armies where it's actually not illegal to be gay and in the army. i.e. in most of the civilised world bar a few Anglo-saxon countries.
Since the project has been aborted the private sector must have picked up on it, manufactured a blue pill and marketed it as an erectile dysfunction drug for soldiers who want to get away from the gay battlefield.

Cunning linguists

Slate nominated its Words of the Year for 2004, and The Most Outrageous Category was won by "santorum".
If you don't know the term, please be advised the link has a "bad taste advisory" attached to it. But in the context of the American culture wars in the political arena, it's an entirely apt and appropriate choice.

Another annus horribilis in 2004

"The worldwide system for protecting human rights was significantly weakened in 2004 by the crisis in Darfur and the Abu Ghraib scandal, Human Rights Watch said in releasing its annual world survey. While the two threats are not equivalent, the vitality of global human rights depends on a firm response to each."
Read the full report here.

Young, dumb and full of royal cum

Our favourite royal was at it again.
Prince Harry "Pothead" Windsor goes to bal masque and turns up in ancient ethnic garb, worn by his family's compatriots in the old Vaterland. Predictably all hell breaks loose, because the Brits need occasional reminders of "Who Won The Bloody War?" This sort of stuff has been making Rupert Murdoch's untaxed fortune from his UK tabloid press, so I'm suspecting the Windsors are on the News Corp payroll for regular frontpage appearances.
So what should Harry's apology sound like?

"Dear Grandma Ma'am,
Sorry for bollocking it all up again, and on the day of Auschwitz's liberation festivities too! As a penitence, may I suggest a trip to New Zealand, where my backside will be appropriately chastised to encourage me to become less of an oik and more of a man who thinks before he does. I know just the man to administer this medicine to me."

Praise the Blogosphere Lord

Billmon is back!

The gayest thing ever

If you got a spare couple of minutes, jump over to Joe at Joe.My.God, who has been asking his fellow bloggers to contribute a short story or experience in their life in which they have done the "gayest" thing ever. The results are hilarious. You'll find my contribution there too.

Evil comes in a bottle

Wowsers never miss a chance to call for tougher laws and sentences when it comes to trying to restrict access to the evil drink. Now their reaction to the perfectly reasonable throwing out of the discrimination against 18 to 25 year olds when it comes to buying alcohol (they are the only group in society that needs to carry compulsory ID when they want to buy a beer) is to institutionalise the discrimination.
I could only agree with compulsory ID carrying if it applied everybody, and not based on your age or any other arbitrary criterium.
Also, I think a doctor prescription, with a second independent medical opinion, should be mandatory for any man over 40 wanting to buy Viagra. If the game is to restrict access to lifestyle drugs, the example should be set at the top.

Don't fence me in

I never went to boarding school, so I luckily missed out on all the "compulsory rugby and homosexuality" (dixit Julian Clary), but my boyfriend did. He never indicated any shenanigans going on, especially of the sort that fuels fantasies about such places, apart from the teasing and nicknaming.
But now Johann Hari tried to dig a little deeper into the trauma, rape, homophobia, institutional support for heterosexuality, and some positive experiences of former pupils.
I wonder if the NZ Herald will reprint this particular article of his as they have done in the past, considering the final lines:

"Boarding school and gay boys go together like Michael Barrymore and swimming pool gang-bangs. You just know it’ll end in disaster."

Michael Barrymore is nowadays a new New Zealander and a columnist for the Herald on Sunday newspaper. We presume his swimming pool is fenced, as per the law here. Not that the swimming pool fencing law is there to prevent gang-bangs! (We're not that backward here)

Coalition of the circumcised

As a commentator said on Jesus General:

We should be praising this [Bush] administration for their ability to prove that you don't have to be white to be ignorant, prejudiced, ill-informed, and callous. The new Rainbow Coalition!

Reigning American queen writes about an earlier one

The best thing I have read over my holidays - getting away from all the people trying to make sense of the tsunami - was the Vanity Fair piece by Gore Vidal about President Abraham Lincoln.
What perfectly innocent sexual times he lived in, when, as a young man, he shared his bed with his mate Joshua, claiming they were no good at playing housie so they might as well have just the single cot. Imagine what a current presidential candidate would have to endure if it was found out what sort of unnatural family life he led before standing for office, and after - despite fathering children (which just proves that you don't need to be heterosexual to cause pregnancy, just being a top is sufficient). Those were the days before those dreaded labels 'homosexual' and 'heterosexual' (even as nouns). Highly recommended, and doesn't that queen write half-well!