Post-It War comes to Wellington.
For those readers whi are not self-confessed geeks – Post It Wars seems to have originated in France of all places.
Welcome Post’it of War ®, the creative phenomenon of the summer 2011 in the open spaces French.
You also declare war on your neighbors!
Feel free to share the photos of these ephemeral creations on this dedicated website.
This site was created and is managed by the agency and Gustibus Coloribus.
Post-it ® and the color Canary Yellow are trademarks of 3M ™. Any reproduction and use without the consent of 3M ™ is prohibited. All rights reserved.
Post-it ® and canary yellow are trademarks of 3M ™. Any reproduction and use Without the consent of 3M ™ IS Prohibited. All rights reserved.
(Courtesy Google Translate.)
Well, I was wondering down Lambton Quay in Wellington the other day when I came accross our very own artistic battles.
These were all taken from Capital on The Quay – thank you for bringing a huge smile to my face.
Ode to Cumbria (or Wellington).
It rained and it rained and rained and rained
The average fall was well maintained
And when the cracks were simply bogs
It started raining cats and dogs.
After a drought of half an hour
We had the most refreshing shower
And then the most curious thing of all
A gentle rain began to fall
Next day was also fairly dry
Save for the deluge from the sky,
Which wetted our party to the skin
And after that the rain set in!
No Idea where that came from – but mum and dad found it and it made me chuckle 
Rugby World Cup – by Lego :)
Well, this might actually get me slightly interested!
With a Tip ‘o the hat to Fran for sharing on FB this morning. Brought a smile to my face
Not that Hutt.
I actually remember the very first time we travelled over the Rimutaka hill to Wellington. We were on our honeymoon, and had already decided that living in New Zealand was a stellar idea. So we were highly bemused to find ourselves travelling past places called Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt. Neither name exactly instills a sense of wonder, and we just giggled.
I have always wondered where the name Hutt came from – and it just so happened that this was part of the conversation over dinner last night.
So, for anyone else so bemused – it’s not named after this one:
It’s actually named after this man:
From HuttValleyNZ.com:
Sir William Hutt was born in 1791 in Lambeth, Surrey, and educated privately at Ryde, Isle of Wight, and Camberwell. Matriculating from St Mary Hall, Oxford, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge where he graduated BA (1827) and MA (1831). He married (1831) Mary, daughter of J Milner and dowager countess of Strathmore.
Hutt was MP for Hull (1832-41) and for Gateshead (1841-74). A free-trader and much interested in colonial affairs, he was a member of the select committee on colonial lands (1836). He was a commissioner for the foundation of South Australia, a member of the New Zealand Association (1837) and of the select committee on New Zealand (1840).
After the New Zealand Bill was thrown out in 1838, Hutt helped form the New Zealand Land Company, amalgamating the interests of the New Zealand Company, the New Zealand Colonisation Society and the old New Zealand Company in 1825 and would later become director and chairman.
In 1839 the Heretaunga River was renamed Hutt by William Wakefield after the founding member, director and chairman of the New Zealand Company, Sir William Hutt. Thus the City was named after the river, not after Sir William Hutt. Only the river can claim to have been named after that British member of Parliament. Further to this, it is interesting to note that Sir William Hutt never visited New Zealand.
In 1859 he was vice-president of the Board of Trade (KCB 1865). His first wife (who died 1860) left him mining properties worth 18,000 pounds a year. He remarried (1861) to a daughter of the Hon Sir James Francis Stanhope.
He died on 24 November 1882
So there you go!
TelecomNZ *Facepalm*
I get that the bloody Rugby World cup is supposed to be good for New Zealand. My own dislike of any sports notwithstanding. Why then do we seem to be hell bent on screwing up such a supposed opportunity and making ourselves look like right plonkers?
The latest cringe inducing stupidity comes from TelecomNZ and Saatchi&Saatchi. In what S&S call an “edgy” campain (you know it going to be trite and pretentious when advertising execs call it “edgy”).
Telecom thought it would be funny to ask everyone to abstain from sex for the length of the RWC as a way of supporting the All Blacks. I am sure there is actually a way that you could do that and have it be funny. This really isn’t it. I guess that there will also be people who actually get the funny bit – it just looks stupid to me.
In what I think IS a funny response – Vodafone (who are not sponsors of the event, but clearly know who to pull a fast one at the expense of their competitor) have apparently come out with this:
(For those not here yet and haven’t had the privilege of aghast looks from co-workers – Rooting is rude word here!)
TelecomNZ – after at first defending the ad have now decided to pull it as most people just think it’s embarrassing. Where on earth do they get these ideas???
Driving in Fiji
easy eh?!
This time around as the weather was really crap we decided to grab a hire car and go for a drive along the Fiji coast. I soon got the hang of Fiji driving, a perspective you don’t quite get as a passenger in a taxi.
So here are the simple things to keep in mind;
1. The roads aren’t fast, wide or good. So to help you keep your speed down, there are speed bumps.
2. Fiji has gone for the older version of the speed bump, which is more portable, a lot more effective at slowing traffic and a more efficient with tarmac. Us European types would call it a pot hole.
3. The white lines down the middle of the road – are there to tell you where there aren’t any potholes.
4. The safest part of the road to drive on, is to the left, or the right, or straddling, the white lines. Whichever bit of the road has fewer pot holes.
5. The car, bus or truck driving directly towards you is not in fact trying to kill you. They’re just being friendly and showing you that there are fewer potholes on your side of the road than theirs, so you’d better stick to this side.
6. You will often meet random cows, horses, dogs and people wandering in the roads. They are admiring the potholes.
7. Be aware that occasionally you will come accross a real speedbump. Not for any particular reason, like needing to slow down for schools or suchlike – but just becasue. It will likely be followed by the mother of all potholes.
8. Do NOT get complacent when you finally find a stretch of road with no potholes. It will be immediately followed by half a mile of non-stop potholes.
9. The national speedlimit is 80kph, which for those of who think 100kph is bad enough – is painful. But not as painful as flying over the potholes at 100kph would be.
Emigrants (and prawns) by Stewart Lee
With many thanks to Christine for sharing this on Facebook – and really cheering me up after a rotten morning.
What my credit card says about me.
For some bizarre reason this morning, hubby had a flick through the credit card bill that arrived yesterday, and noticed that there seemed to be a marked preference for spending in a certain type of shop.
So for you amusement – here are the types of items you can see on our credit card statement.
Supermarket – 15 Items
Business stuff – 2 Items
Medicines & Health care – 2 Items
DIY – 2 Items
Health Insurance – 1 item
Clothes – 1 Item
Cinema – 1 Item
Utilities – 2 Items
Books & DVD’s – 7 Items
Online Gaming – 4 Items
Cafes and Restuarants – 21 Items
Ooops. I’m off for a coffee to drown my sorrows!
The Official Information Act – open to all.
Filed under: Life in New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues, Only in New Zealand
Unless you actually happen to live in New Zealand, you would probably have missed a absolute farcical political comedy being played out in the media and political blogs. Now I really don’t have a huge amount of interest in blogging about politics, unless it happens to intrude on the subject of immigration or finance, and whatever my personal politics happen to be, I have tended to find all parties as bad as each other in general on those topics.
This one however I have taken an interest in because
a/ Its actually hysterically funny
b/ it encompasses “normal people” – ie bloggers – using the Official Information Act to obtain information, and thus getting accused of being part of a conspiracy.
As I have used the OIA myself, call me crazy, but I just find that funny 
So what is the story.
Once upon a time, some Israeli spies were caught in New Zealand using fake New Zealand passports. A huge political storm broke out. Skip forward a few years, and a group of Israeli students were found to be in Christchurch after the earthquake and were accused of being spies. Cue another huge political storm, which as I understand it culminated in it being determined they were in fact not spies – but backpackers. That’s the official story.
Now, the Southland Times appeared to have been leaked info from the SIS (Security Intelligence Service) about an investigation into the backpackers. That got picked up by other media, who then asked why the SIS were investigating backpackers, and what they found out.
THEN, because John Key the Prime minster also happens to be the minister in charge of the SIS - they wanted to know what he personally knew about all this.
Unfortunately, this also got mixed in with reports about a private Israeli search-and-rescue team having been escorted by the NZ Army out of the Red Zone in Christchurch CBD one night. Allegedly.
So the Prime minister was asked questions about what he knew when he knew it etc, at which point, Phil Goff, leader of the opposition, wades in and demands that Key reveal the complete SIS report on the matter. Key refused on the basis it was not in the National Interest. Goff kept going, also demanding to know why he wasn’t briefed about it.
Cue the head of SIS, Warren Tucker, who reminds Goff that he was in fact briefed as is usual for the leader of the opposition. Goff keeps digging, consistently denying that he was briefed, then admits to being briefed but forgot what about, but it wasn’t this. Then, he states that in future he will ensure that any briefings with Dr Tucker will be held with someone taking notes. Now it is generally considered a huge thing when a political leader says they no longer trust a head of intelligence. It just so happens that Dr Tucker, as part of his job, already has notes. Lots of them. However Phil Goff continues to maintain that Dr Tucker is wrong and that he did not brief Goff.
Step in Whaleoil. Who contacted the SIS with an Official Information Request asking for:
1. Copies of briefing notes and/or documents given and/or shown to The Leader of the Opposition during any briefing held in March 2011 regarding Israeli nationals.
2. Copies of diary notes made at the time or subsequent to the March briefings to The Leader of the Opposition.
3. Details of any acknowledgement by The Leader of the Opposition of having read or received any of the aforementioned briefing notes and/or documents.
It seems that the day before, the Dom Post also made an OIA request, but phrased it differently and asked for different information, to be released immediately. 5 days later, they both got the information – with the security sensitive bits blacked out. Whale Oil blogged about the documents first. But the documents do show that Phil Goff was indeed briefed. Although Whale Oil has parts of the document shown on his blog, this one at KiwiBlog actually shows the whole lot – even though most of it is blacked out.
Now everyone has thier knickers in a twist, claiming that Whaleoil somehow gained an advantage because he is a “Right wing blogger” and that the SIS gave him priority and is somehow working at the behest of John Key and Whaleoil in some grand conspiracy to embarrass Phil Goff. Who seems to have that entirely under control himself and really doesn’t need any help from anyone.
Labour leader Phil Goff says questions remain over how a right-wing blogger asked the SIS for a confidential document about a briefing he had with the spy agency
How? That is easy – you just ask. Anyone in NZ can do it. I did it with the IAA. It is not difficult, and it is not illegal. There is nothing secret about it, nor do you have to part of the media (or part of a conspiracy) to use the OIA – the whole point of it is to promote open government and allow the people of New Zealand to ask for exactly this kind of information. In fact, the only slightly un-hysterical question Goff has asked is how come the information was released so quickly? Remember, I was asking for boring details about the IAA, and that apparently had to be passed via the Immigration Minister. Yet documents that pertain to a huge political storm get sent out in 5 days. But then if I was the head of the SIS, not able to publicly speak out about being called a liar, I would probably release the documents quick smart too.
I am actually gobsmacked that Phil Goff just doesn’t stop. He has actually had, as far as I can see, several opportunities to gracefully accept that he may have made a mistake and genuinely forgotten about the briefing. But instead he has behaved appallingly, even for a politician, and just keeps throwing out petulant accusations left right and center and is making himself look a right plonker.
But make no mistake, anyone has the right to use the Official Information Act to access information. Both personal information that government agencies hold about you, and anything else that might just interest you. They do not have to give you the information you ask for, but if that is the case they do need to tell you why, and you can appeal to the Ombudsman if that happens.
In the meantime – please pass the popcorn.
IRD denies excess. . .
As new staff car park is opened.
In the foyer of the new IRD offices, aka the Asteron building in Wellington yesterday were;
A black Bentley, A white Lamborghini, a Yellow one, a Silver Aston Martin V8, plus a Grey Aston Martin Visage. Nice, the latter two Aston’s that is, not the others.
Avalon’s Guide On Facebook
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