bizgirl

international librarian of mystery

Monday, May 31, 2004

Lovely NZ Libraries

One of the reasons I became a librarian was that I just like library buildings so much. All the libraries I've worked or studied in have been fantastic (with, perhaps, the exception of Christchurch Central, which has undergone some rennovations over the last few years, and might not be quite the hot and smelly barn that it used to be).

Anyway, it seems as if the trend of groovy library buildings around NZ is set to continue, with no less than five libraries appearing in the finals of this year's NZ Architecture Awards......with two of those (Paraparaumu & Christchurch South Library) going on to win 2 of the 5 supreme awards. More info about the awards here, and some news items here, here and here.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Ooooh, goody. Martin Freeman - the downtrodden 'Tim' from 'The Office' - is to be the new Arthur Dent in the big budget Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy feature film. He will, I suspect, be excellent. A slightly more dodgy casting call is Mos Def as Ford Prefect, and hopefully Sam Rockwell will be able to support a second head slightly better than Mark Wing-Davey did in the early 80s TV series.

Thursday, May 27, 2004

Kidd of Speed - fibber

Well, it turns out that after doing the rounds of the blogosphere in a big way, and even making a foray into mainstream print media (NZ's Sunday Star Times ran the story a couple of weeks back - can't find a link to it unfortunately), the story of the lone and lovely Elena on her motorbike traversing the wastelands around Chernobyl is a bit of a fib.

[via boingboing]

Monday, May 24, 2004

revenge is sweet

I'm already a regular user of the homegrown crapshag site (eventually I'll send them some of my more juicy stories), but, for my more vengeful moments, it looks like the revenge lady may be my website du jour. Like crapshag, they're keen on their lists - this was my favourite from Top 10 Hellish Things to Say During Sex...

Once, I was having sex with my now ex boyfriend, when he looked me dead in the eye and said "Your sister does this better."

Bwhahaha! I probably only find that funny because I don't have a sister.

out of sight, out of mind

I imagine Donald Rumsfeld wished he'd thought of this before the occupation got underway.

"Digital cameras, camcorders and cellphones with cameras have been prohibited in military compounds in Iraq," say new orders from the Pentagon to US forces in Iraq, adding that a "total ban throughout the US military" is in the works.

Friday, May 21, 2004

Smaller, but lasts longer

In a follow-up to a previous post on Wrigley's relaunch of Juicy Fruit chewing gum in a smaller package (but for the same price), Peter McLennan reports that NZ Wrigley's Managing Director has taken the time to write to him (apparently his original complaint made it all the way to the top of Wrigley's HQ in Chicago), to point out that recent improvements to the formula of Juicy Fruit have resulted in less need for size, as the gum now has more endurance. I quote...
The key factor is that the new versions of Juicy Fruit - in both the original flavour and the new Strappleberry - embody significant new technology and performance improvement.

Consumer research and feedback consistently tells us that flavour duration is the most sought-after product improvement, and this we have achieved.
It's smaller, but lasts longer? Don't know if I'm all for that line of reasoning.

And what sort of GE-mutant flavour is strapleberry?

wait until you see the whites of their eyes boys!

A bayonet charge? In this day and age? Gotta love the British approach to warfare.

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Today's headlines

Body discovered in Plainfield cemetery [Courier News]
No, in a cemetery?

Sunday's Plane Crash Is Pilot's 2nd Fatal Accident [Komo-TV News]
Moral: never let zombies fly.

Rare Beauties Seen in Camel Pageant [Arab News]
Ummm...

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Nicholas Berg Video

Now I haven't seen this grusome bit of video, but someone who has, and who then wrote a blog about is ex-pat kiwi Demonsurfer, who was then inundated with ghouls looking for the unedited video online. I was interested in just how high up Demonsurfer was with regards to a google search, so I tried...

"nicholas berg video"

...and he wasn't in the top 10, but what was #2 was this...

Nicholas Berg Video
For only $1, you too can help feed a starving Penguin. ...
www.confederatelinux.com/video/warning.htm - 9k - Cached - Similar pages

Crazy.

Stick your Chuddy on a Star

"Londoners are being urged to stick their chewing gum on celebrity posters rather than dropping it on the streets. Ealing Council hopes posters featuring Shane Richie, Jordan and Peter Andre among others will prove a more tempting target in Acton, west London."
Brilliant. That's the kind of lateral thinking I really love. What I'd like to see though, is the cigarette butt equivalent - I hate hate hate seeing smokers absentmindedly flicking their burning, germ encrusted fag-end onto the footpath. Why not some sort of smokers' basketball hoop (with a larger outer lip for anyone who misses)? Something pyrotechnic perhaps? Hmmmm...

Pimp Suits

Ohhh, nice. I think I might have to buy noizyboy one for his birthday.

This is the black pleather pimp suit with velvet Zebra print trim.

Tasty.

Not so sure about the choices for the ladies' on the site, although, if anyone wants to get me some skanky ho Black Velvet Gloves I won't be complaining.

[via j-walk]

The Neighbour from Hell Smell

Yuck. I lived next door to an old guy that was a bit on the, uh, 'smelly' side for a while, but nothing that compares to this.
About a year ago we noticed a foul smell coming through the walls of our bedroom from the apartment next door. Our neighbour was an older gentleman who had been living there between 10 and 20 years. We complained, but there wasn't much anyone could do, the guy had changed all of his locks and never let anyone else in. So we did the best we could by blocking up all of our electrical sockets.
You really don't want to see the inside of this guy's fridge. Ugh, I might go and get some fresh air...

Monday, May 17, 2004

Cinema copyright warnings: a call to action

It seems UK cinemas are taking the threat of piracy pretty seriously, and have started adding a 'public announcement' service to the start of films to warn patrons that recording the film with recording equipment is illegal and that could you a) not do it, and b) dob in everyone you see who is doing it. This interruption to the film starting (after 30 minutes of ads) aggrieved Cory Doctorwow of the excellent boingboing site so much he's taken a stand...
Every time I see this, my blood boils. I just paid a fortune to see this movie, I've been subjected to 500 percent concession stand markup and half an hour of commercials and now you're going to give me a little lecture about how badly I'll get beaten up if I turn out to be a pirate, and ask me to snitch on my fellow moviegoers?

It's adding insult to injury, if you ask me. It's unforgivably rude.

So here's what I've started doing: whenever this warning is screened, I take a very obvious flash photo of it. I've done it twice now, and both times, I got a round of applause. You can do it too. If we all do it, if we all laugh and boo when this warning comes on, maybe the movie companies will get the picture.
Haven't seen a similar notice pop up on New Zealand screens yet, but, when it does, my digital camera will be ready and waiting.

Friday, May 14, 2004

Clean tongue

Well, less than a week after toothpaste/brush makers Macleans released the results from their survey (which made the front page of Wellingtons Dominion newspaper) showing that 78% of men and 60% of women in NZ do not brush their tongues, comes an ad espousing the virtues of the latest Macleans toothbrush, with (surprise!) a special grooved tongue-cleaner thingamajig on the opposite side to the brush.

I think it's all a conspiracy, dreamed up by Macleans to sell some more toothbrushes. I mean, how many more innovations could they have put the humble toothbrush through? Flexy necks, vary-stiffness-bristles, ergonomic hand-grips ... and now, the tongue cleaner. When did tongue-cleaning enter the realm of necessary hygienic routine? I don't recall hearing about it at school during the interminable 'round and round and side to side' lessons on toothbrushing. Maybe I (and 60% of the rest of my female compatriots) missed school that day?

Quick show of hands - do you brush your tongue? And if not, do you intend to from now?

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Look it up

Why you should fall to your knees and worship a librarian.
People become librarians because they know too much. Their knowledge extends beyond mere categories. They cannot be confined to disciplines. Librarians are all-knowing and all-seeing. They bring order to chaos. They bring wisdom and culture to the masses. They preserve every aspect of human knowledge. Librarians rule. And they will kick the crap out of anyone who says otherwise.

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

I am Asian!

Well, I'm not, but lots of people are, and I wonder how they'd feel about McDonalds trying to trademark that particular phrase. Yes indeed, McD's are trying to copyright the words 'I am Asian' with their big new marketing campaign that's aimed at (not surprisingly) Asians-Americans, and also (somewhat surprisingly) Polynesian-Americans.

Tuesday, May 11, 2004

John Banks

Reason #104 for loving life in Wellington:

John Bank's isn't my mayor.

dogster

Ugh. It had to happen. You can now sign your dog up to a friendster/orkut/livejournal type of social networking website, at the aptly named dogster.

Friday, May 07, 2004

Blog makeover

Yay. After much uncouth swearing and pulling of hair, I've finally updated the stylesheet of my blog from the old yucky default blogger one I selected when signing up, to one I've found and modified for my own ends from this excellent site. I've given it the once-over in IE and Opera on my PC, but if anyone out there sees anything weird on any other browser/platform combination, please let me know.

Thursday, May 06, 2004

Pizza Hutt

Ahhh, Pizza Hut. Not like Upper and Lower Hutt.

But, judging by the fact I got there anyway, I'm obviously not the first person to make that mistake.

Corporate Greed

First Telecom put an end to their $10 all-you-can-txt deal, and now Wrigleys have relaunched my favourite chuddy - good 'ol Juicyfruit - with 'funky' new packaging, but 18% less gum! Are they charging us 18% less? Not on your nelly...

[via dubdotdash]

Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Bad Ass Movie Images

oohhhh, excellent find for the day. Bad Ass Movie Images has heaps of classic stills from films (mostly cult and indie faves) throughout the ages, sorted by actor, film, decade, director and genre. Ahhhh, the young John Travolta...

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Dad! I dug a hole!

This (American) guy reminds me of that Aussie film the Castle, where the denser of the sons would intermittently shout out: "Dad, I dug a hole." So did this guy, except he documented the exercise (and killed - and ate - some animals in the process).

[via metafilter]

Monday, May 03, 2004

zefrank: wanted

more good fun from zefrank (the man behind the very excellent 'how to dance' and 'how to impress your date' online guides. this one's a bit more random (and headache inducing) - a face made up of different cut-outs of various peoples' heads flicks from variation to variation until you click on it and freeze the frame into a weird 'wanted' ad (or mouseover the words in the wanted ad to get it 'just so'). I got this one that I quite like...

Warm, single disgruntled Virgo man, 7"2'.
70 year old business person. I like knitting, sleeping in and spontaneous getaways.
Can't live without a ludicrous teen gay professional for cooking and surfing.
Must have a car!


[via j-walk]