New Zealand ~ Aotearoa

The silver mile

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:56:00 -0800

To think that when I took this, I thought this sort of weather would hold all week.

Featherston Street in January 2009

Wellington, resplendent in sunshine, January 2009.

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Shapes at Civic Square

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:04:59 -0800

I love these geometric shapes at Civic Square, Wellington. Taken last Tuesday, before the computers started going nuts.

Civic Square 2

Civic Square 3

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Key forms government, keeping it centre-right

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:34:19 -0800

What a relief. John Key has announced his government line-up without resorting to kissing the rear end of the Architect of Doom, Sir Roger Douglas.
   ACT’s Rodney Hide and Heather Roy get ministerial portfolios in local government and consumer affairs respectively.
   The Māori Party’s Tariana Turia and Dr Pita Sharples will be ministers for the community and Māori affairs respectively.
   Peter Dunne of United Future keeps his old portfolios that he had with the former Labour government, in revenue.
   I haven’t mentioned the associate ministerial jobs the above people have.
   I think this could be a potentially stable coalition and I congratulate Mr Key for keeping his promises regarding the formation of the Cabinet.
   The media predict that he will have to juggle the relationship but I think it will be far less eventful, unless they wish to create sensationalism from nothing.

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Springtime at Chaffers Park

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:40:03 -0800

Today’s weather was beaut, a typical spring day for Wellington. Here are some views before and after an art exhibition I went to this evening via a cellphone camera.

Chaffers Park

Chaffers Marina November 2008

Mt Vic from Chaffers Park

Yachts outside Freyberg Pool

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General Election results

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:34:12 -0800

For those interested, here were our election results from last night. I don’t think all special votes have been counted (it says 208,001 have) but I doubt they will change the picture much. We didn’t do that well but considering the mainstream media totally ignored us, I am not surprised. Still, it was a great opportunity to do more than just vote, but actually put my name to something I believe in.

General Election 2008 results

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I voted

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:31:06 -0800

And if you haven’t, get out now! Ninety minutes to go. Make that sixty if you have to get in your car to a polling booth.

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Vote for change you can believe in

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:31:30 -0800

Vote today!
   And remember, National voted for: the legalization of prostitution, the anti-satire rules in Parliament, the anti-smacking law, and the free-trade deal with China.
   A vote for National and ACT means the return of Sir Roger Douglas, the man whose free-market ideas saw to our drop in the OECD, the increase in food bank numbers, and the widening gap between rich and poor.
   Whomever you vote for, vote for real change today.
   Minor parties can be a moderating influence on the major ones, to keep them in check and to keep everyday New Zealanders like you and me at the top of their minds.
   Of course I am running for the Alliance but you need to make up your mind on who is best for your values. But I can bet you it won’t be a major party. And of the minors, I can bet you it won’t be ACT.

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The increasingly ubiquitous Toyota Prius taxicab

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:14:23 -0800

Prius taxis

I know some cities are seeing these Toyota Prius taxicabs. Wellington started off with Green Cabs, but now the main firm, Combined, is getting them, too. On the left is a Green Cab; on the right, a Combined Prius being tailed by a Combined Nissan Teana—badged Maxima here.
I prefer the days when our cabs (and many of the New Zealand private fleet) ran on good, clean natural gas—they could claim to be zero smog then. Even Priuses have petrol engines pulling around hundreds of kilograms of batteries. But the Prius is better than the Teana: a lot of Wellington cabbies are turning Japanese, after decades of buying Australian full-size sedans. It’s a pity, since the Australians put out cabs with factory natural gas options. Even on environmental cleanliness, I’d prefer to see diesel Mondeos before all these petrol Teanas and Aurions.

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I’m standing for the Alliance

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 05:19:44 -0700

Alliance Party 2008 election ad

Some of my fellow candidates speak on why they are standing for the Alliance Party, as I am.

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You know you’re in Auckland when …

nobody@vox.com(Jack Yan) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:24:35 -0700

You know you're in Auckland when

In a good part of New Zealand, the acronym JAFA means something uncomplimentary about residents of our largest and fastest-growing city. It means Just Another Aucklander (I’ll leave you to fill in the third word). But one resident there has a good sense of humour about it, even advertising it on his or her personalized plate, which I snapped earlier this week in Ponsonby, Auckland.

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