What has happened to the youth of today?
Brilliant. Some generous soul has started transcribing Ronald Smythe and H. Westfolds’ “letters to the editor” to a blog.
Between them, Westfold and Smythe have cornered the market on curmudgeonly grumpiness, making their output, naturally, some of the best comedy writing to be found coming out of our fair city. Says Smythe…
What has happened to the youth of today. It is a rare occasion indeed when I am shown politeness and respect by the younger age groups. Good manners have flown out the window, along with dress sense and decency.
I presume today’s public schools are partly to blame, although parents are no doubt shirking their responsibilities also.
…and H. Westfold, channeling, it would seem, Grandpa Simpson…
Your March 15 item about that lovely 1963 Studebaker and its manufacturer evoked memories of my adolescence in the late 1940s. You see, it was Studebaker which pioneered the “New Look” analogous to that of women’s fashions just then. It was in late 1947 or early 1948 that just a few of the latest Studebaker model appeared on our Taranaki roads, one of those cars being owned by a farmer near my hometown, Inglewood. For a short while, their profile made heads turn – a car’s front and rear ends both looked like front ends as we’d known cars for many years!
…and so on.
Read more at the aptly named I am of the Opinion.
[Hat-tip to Alan for actually un-earthing this.]
But what about the children?
There are hundreds – nay thousands – of possible venues in our fair city for children’s parties. Today I bring you one that I have recently used and enjoyed.
The YMCA on Tasman St is available for hire at a very reasonable rate. It is pretty rough, which actually is nice and relaxing when you have 20 under 4s hooning around. There are crash pads, a huge foam pit, beams, balls and lots of opportunities for kids to run themselves ragged.
You can take your own food and there is chilled water on site.
No alcohol allowed, so I’ll be rethinking it as a venue for my own birthday. A martini in that foam pit seems very appealing.
I didn’t spot a single Young Christian Man, nor did anyone perform YMCA. We had a goodly dose of the Spice Girls though.
YMCA of Greater Wellington INC
69 Tasman St Wellington 0–4‑385 4091
Wellington JAFA?
The Generation XY crowd are having a competition to find an equivalent for the phrase used to describe a certain type of Aucklander: the JAFA.
It took about 35 or so comments before someone finally conjured up something for the JAFA’s age-old ally in movie-theatre tooth-decaying crime: SNIFTA (Suited Nominal Intellectual Funding Terrible Arts Snivelling Nerds In Flash Terrace Apartments).
But my personal favourite is…
AGENDA
Another Government Employee Not Doing Anything.
Which naturally leads to the ‘Hidden Agenda’ which are the New Govt Employees that are artificially holding the unemployment rate down.
Brilliant. Add your own suggestions to the Gen XY comments thread over here.
Wellingtonian Wally of the Year: nomination #1
Might we nominate the two adults who thought that taking eight pre-schoolers for a walk through the Terrace Tunnel as ‘Wellington Wally of the Year’? Yes, we might. [photo courtesy of taniwha]
Test your knowledge
I’m writing questions for a work Quiz Night that we’re going to be having tomorrow, and decided that it would be good to have a ‘Courtenay Place and its surroundings’ round, given the location of this particular branch of the Wellingtonista. How well will you do at answering these questions in the comments, without googling, […]
Links for Tuesday, 31 May 2005
Yet more Wellingtonist ‘let me count the ways’ goodness, this time from Ratpony (no permalinks on the site, so you’ll have to find it for yourself if it’s dropped off the frontpage). Mouse running across Island Bay woman’s foot sparks multi-national efforts emergency services into action. Wellington doctor Ken Looi rides around Basin Reserve 814 […]
Links for Monday, 30 May 2005
A couple more additions to the ‘Let me count the ways…’ Wellingtonist meme, from Sibylle at heimatseeker and Mr Reasonable at Whispering Inferno The Wellington City Council in-fighting reaches new lows Tornado action in Paraparaumu, resulting in this from MetService… Severe-weather forecaster Paul Mallinson said he had “almost mentioned weak tornadoes” in predictions for the […]
Links for Friday, 27 May 2005
Make Tea Not War adds to the list of Wellingtonist ‘let me count the ways’ meme Falco over at addict.net.nz proclaims his site is made up of ‘columnists’, not ‘bloggers’, goddammit! Wellington bands on the up. Keep up with the cool kids with this nzmusic.com primer on the welly bands whose names you should be […]
Links for Wednesday, 25 May 2005
Ecoqueer waxes lyrical about Maui – One Man Against the Gods, which is being performed at the St James Theatre until early June. The Supreme Court may be getting shifted to the Thorndon Tavern. Question is, will the judges demand that the bar remain behind? Karaoke Poetry at Bats. Better (much better, we’ve been told), […]
Links for Monday, 23 May 2005
Kakariki has a good time at the Green Room 004: Hope CD release party. Some media attention for Whispering Inferno will hopefully have a couple of local real estate agents and developers shaking in their boots. Conversations overheard on the Cable Car. Examples of the sort of stimulating chat you’re likely to overhear on Wellington’s […]