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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Toph on October 18, 2013, at 15:36:01
I may have missed your thoughts elsewhere but what were your reactions to the America's Cup? I thought the Kiwis had it in the bag. Hardly seems to me like much of an American victory with a mostly Aussie crew. I don't know why they don't have two identical boats that they alternate back and forth to determine the best sailors.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 18, 2013, at 16:03:27
In reply to Hey Alex and Sig..., posted by Toph on October 18, 2013, at 15:36:01
> I may have missed your thoughts elsewhere but what were your reactions to the America's Cup?
I was supposed to care about it a great deal. People talked about it a lot. I don't give a sh*t, actually.
People were very... Gloaty that we were doing well compared to the Americans. NZers do have a bit of an under-dog attitude problem when it comes to the US and Australia, both (though most Kiwis would secretly LOVE to move to either of those places). It isn't politic to point out that the reason why we excell at certain sports is because other countries (with higher populations and more sports funding) don't particularly care for those sports.
There was a lot of gloating that the US team was full of Kiwis.
> I thought the Kiwis had it in the bag. Hardly seems to me like much of an American victory with a mostly Aussie crew. I don't know why they don't have two identical boats that they alternate back and forth to determine the best sailors.I didn't think anybody in America cared, to tell you the honest truth :-)
Your idea on the boats... Is a good one. The boat should be a standardized piece of equipment. Like a cricket ball or a uniform or whatever. Though I guess that would make it something of a different sport. Maybe think of the boat as being more like a horse for equestrian events (where a lot goes into breeding etc).
?
Posted by alexandra_k on October 18, 2013, at 16:05:39
In reply to Hey Alex and Sig..., posted by Toph on October 18, 2013, at 15:36:01
> Hardly seems to me like much of an American victory with a mostly Aussie crew.
oh. i thought the american team was full of kiwis. i didn't really follow this, though. just heard people talking about it in the coffee queue...
Posted by Toph on October 18, 2013, at 17:16:01
In reply to Re: Hey Alex and Sig..., posted by alexandra_k on October 18, 2013, at 16:05:39
I think the skipper of Oracle USA was Assie, anyway. I stumbled upon the race when surfing cable TV. I was astonished to see these incredilble 100-million dollar boats that actually sail on top of the water at 50 mpg. From the two races I viewed the Kiwi boat was faster and better handled. Somehow it all fell apart for them, I guess. Oh the toys of the fabulously wealthy. Your right though, I think the results were hardly covered even in San Francisco. Its football season.
Posted by sigismund on October 18, 2013, at 21:12:39
In reply to Hey Alex and Sig..., posted by Toph on October 18, 2013, at 15:36:01
Australia won the America's Cup once and we have never forgotten it, and for all I know we won it again, but about that I know nothing especially now I have stopped watching TV.
Though I still read politics. We had an election, the right won, and I found this commentary about the Liberals campaign launch amusing.
"Last go round with the Libs at La Montage. You guys. Once again with the symbolism pre-supplied. That's efficiency. To quote Krushchev, I will be voting for the Conservatives in the next election.
F*ck, it was alarming though, even before I was completely obliterated. The blue light, the '80s pseudo -onyx black pillars - You guys really are a bunch of tasteless suburban creeps deep down, aren't you, there's really no hope for you - and the laughter was uproarious, the energy feral. Had George Grosz been there to capture it, he would have been accused of restrained realism. Pugs and pigs in pearls and shiny suits.
I for one welcome our new orc-like masters."
Lots of people were planning to move somewhere civilized (like NZ) if Abbott won, but Rudd's achievement was to make Abbott look good.
Posted by sigismund on October 18, 2013, at 21:21:14
In reply to Re: Hey Alex and Sig..., posted by alexandra_k on October 18, 2013, at 16:03:27
>though most Kiwis would secretly LOVE to move to either of those places)
Really? There's no accounting for taste. I'm glad they keep it secret. What was that Piggy Muldoon said about Kiwis moving here en masse about increasing the IQ of both countries? Would it be the same if we moved in and you all moved out, mutatis mutandis?
Posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2013, at 0:30:52
In reply to Not so fast » alexandra_k, posted by sigismund on October 18, 2013, at 21:21:14
> >though most Kiwis would secretly LOVE to move to either of those places)
> Really? There's no accounting for taste.
I think you are forgetting how glorious the weather is. It really is so very changeable here. You need to take sunscreen, t-shirt, light sweater, heavy sweater, wind break, and a rainproof layer with you if you simply plan to go to the corner store.
> I'm glad they keep it secret.
The official story is that you will never be forgiven for the underarm bowl. And the americans will never be forgiven for excluding us from the defense alliance for our nuclear free policy.
> What was that Piggy Muldoon said about Kiwis moving here en masse about increasing the IQ of both countries? Would it be the same if we moved in and you all moved out, mutatis mutandis?
Those were the good old days where Aussie considered us local to the point of our being able to qualify for welfare benefits upon entry to the country. Lots of people on unemployment decided they would rather be unemployed over on the Gold Coast than unemployed in Invercargill or Dunedin or whatever. It is because of that that the Aussie government tightened up their welfare policy. Which, ur, is why I had to come back to NZ :-(
Bastards.
But yes, the joke was that they found a way to decrease unemployment in NZ while simultaneously raising the IQ of both countries. The answer was: Ship 'em to Australia.
I thought I was always a kiwi at heart... Until I came back here several years ago. We will see how I feel in a few more years... But currently... I am not liking this country. At all. I know Canberra is hardly representative of Australia... Or what I saw of (the university surrounds of) Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania, or Brisbane... But I liked Australia a great deal, actually. The politics is insane. But I don't see how it is better here. Or anywhere, really.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2013, at 0:32:01
In reply to Re: Not so fast, posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2013, at 0:30:52
actually... maybe it wasn't that it was a kiwi crew... it was that it was a kiwi engineering team or... something. aw, for all i know i was overhearing a conversation by australians...
Posted by sigismund on October 19, 2013, at 19:08:07
In reply to Re: Not so fast, posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2013, at 0:30:52
> Lots of people on unemployment decided they would rather be unemployed over on the Gold Coast than unemployed in Invercargill or Dunedin or whatever.
I was in the south island and saw, in the local paper, a picture of a clock tower in Invercargill during a hard frost and thought 'That is where I need to live'. The accent is a challenge of course. But the climate is to die for. Like Tasmania where you can see and feel the history, the violence, genocide and natural beauty unlike (for example) Queensland.
We took the dog to the beach today and there were dead shearwaters/mutton birds all the length of the beach all the way to the Gold Coast, and many more in the water. People were saying it was like a mortuary. They fly from the Bering Straight, Siberia and Alaska to south of here, two thirds as far as from Newfoundland to Patagonia? Some talked about the big storms in the Phillipines, the lack of bait fish on which they could feed. Interesting to see natural selection at work. Normally one is not conscious of it.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 20, 2013, at 1:19:48
In reply to Re: Not so fast, posted by sigismund on October 19, 2013, at 19:08:07
that is sad about the birds.
on the one hand i hear you about the weather. i prefer to cover my skin, so prefer winter clothes to summer clothes. and i preferred the dress taste of wellington (blacks and browns and greys) to the dress taste of auckland (more colourful). i think the colour follows the sun...
on the other hand... i think my mood follows the sun. i find it hard to feel depressed when the sun is shining. i would say 'and when the birds are singing' but now i remember how much the flocks of sulphur crested cockatoos did not terribly amuse me at 6am with tha god awful screeching that they do...
though actually i'm remembering lying on my bed hot hot hot too hot to move. why hasn't this f*ck*ng country heard of f*ck*ng air conditioning!?
and perhaps you are right.
This is the end of the thread.
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