You never forget your first time. The first time you listened to Lou Reed. That deep, gravelly voice, resonating with the smoke of a thousand cigarettes. Clear speech, good diction, great lyrics, hardly singing, more poetry set to laid-back music then words set to song. For me, inevitably, it was Sweet Jane, with a roomful of wannabe stoners singing along in unison, reveling in the music…
I’ve been reading the new Booker Prize winning novel, having just purchased one of the last copies in hardback, and so I may be out of action, doing a spot of reading. It’s ….. Lovely. Absolutely lovely. A rich tapestry, a convoluted murder mystery, set in a foreign land (to the rest of the world), and written in really beautifully crafted prose. I should just shut…
In the continued absence of any building related news to discuss this week, and while recovering from A) the monster big blow storm thing on Monday, and B) the gorgeous full-on summer of the last two days, all I can think about is that I’m glad I’m not in Auckland right now. There is the whole shoddy sordid affair of Len Brown going on in the…
So, we have a new Council. And a new chance for Wellington. And, just perhaps, a Council less inclined to squabble. I’m really glad that Leonie Gill has been ousted – some people can’t take a hint that they should enjoy their retirement. I hope she can enjoy it now it is compulsory. And of course John Morrison has done his chips – at last Wellington…
Excellent news, and thoroughly deserving, that today the extension / refurb / complete rebuild to the AAG won first place at WAF. I think it is the first time that i have visited a building on the World Architecture Festival list, and it is also the first time that I can completely agree with them. It is a stunning building, both inside and out, and the…
Following the previous post on Spine Studies, and the closure of the inevitable “consultation” period (where they waste our time by asking for our opinion, and once they have it, they will just ignore it), I realised that the big issue with the Spine Study is that it has missed the really big picture: its not the method of transport, but it is ALL about the…