OK, so even though I was boasting of getting ahead I’m still months behind on this one. The Register’s highly developed investigative journalism reports on Google’s attempts to buy NZ.
As they point out world dominating villians need a place to hang out and Mt Doom is up for rent now after Sauron’s eviction.
[via Read/WriteWeb]
I’m off to New Zealand by way of Malaysia. Be back in the new year.
Great mashup of Google maps and NZ Land Information free sat maps.
It’s been Helen Clark day for me today. I’m usually fairly isolated from NZ politics but she’s jumped up and down in front of me three times today.
Blearly eyed this morning I heard her rationally opposing the British and US point of view on the Today Program. I had never really heard her views before, I sort of knew that NZ generally opposed it but wasn’t too sure to what lenghts. She said she backed the UN process and wasn’t in to the guns blazing approach. She more than hinted that her opinion was the big boys had spent long enough preparing for war and just couldn’t delay it. Sounds very like she was dubious of the whole thing.
Yay! Go Helen! Listen to her again on the BBC radio player.
Then, while at Television Centre today, I came across her being interviewed for Talking Point. While I watched she answered a couple of questions about the NZ brain drain and what she was doing. I would hope I’m visible proof of some of that, though she did say there is currently an influx of ex-kiwi’s due to the downturn in the world economy and the whole global uncertainty thing. I’m not surprised, there do seem to be lots of antipodeans dropping out of London and there are many more considering it.
Finally I saw Helen Clark again on the 10 o’clock news. Sitting on the right hand side of Bill Clinton at some big dinner for all the progressive world leaders. I wonder who appointed them all the most progressive world leaders anyway. Sounds like a lot of self congratulatory back slapping to me.
For good reason this is supposedly one of the top 10 dives spots in the world. Beats diving in Thailand or Croatia, my only other dive experiences. I wish I had an underwater camera, there were so many amazing friendly little fishies to play with.
Ah… Piha, the west coast on the North Island. Just close enough to Auckland to be part of the big smoke, isolated enough to be a rural hippy hamlet. Plus more architects per square metre than anywhere else in the world. Every second house on the way down Piha road seems to harbour an architects studio.
