Serious voice and all! Seemed so far away from Welly.
I had no idea what it was but it was something you did NOT want to happen. I just thought about it after several decades…
Thanks also for your fun answers Welly people. It’s a lift!
I’m amazed how well my retro posts have been received and love the thinkers and the clever replies. So Welly!
So here’s another, harder one: the Arena Searchlight. I don’t even know what year.
I don’t think I was even out of primary school. Seemed impossibly glamorous and probably mixed it up with the bat signal as well given my age.
I’ve lived here on and off for decades and NOONE knows which is which. Ever.
When you try to clarity in conversation which street you mean it’s a game of chance: no one is certain they can name it!
So, a proposal:
There’s something entertaining about renaming them both ‘Allen or Blair Street’ by popular demand! It’s where people call it anyway.
Just sayin’.
PS you can see Sir Breadwins there, needless to say
(joke)
Ok so here’s a Welly piece of history that some long time residents will recall. Do you remember the graffiti on the retaining wall on the way to Karori that said…
’I think therefore I am’ and then someone else wrote next to it ‘A lesbian.’
That graffiti was there for YEARS and it was so long it spanned me not even understanding the first bit let alone the second as a child, through to getting the point as a young adult!
What I love is that it is SO Wellington to have witty graffiti like that and you don’t get it everywhere.
Do you remember any others?
I know we want people to receive their rates bills and understand what is happening (do they come together?) and accepting It’s probably peak advertising time…
I just hope it wasn’t a giant spend on name recognition and the metrics were solid on objectives and what the entity got for it.
To put it plainly: the analysis of his executive track record shows that much of what gets framed as "strategic leadership" can be broken down into standard, reactive managerial tasks. I'm just not a fan of city hopping and CV puffing.
If we strip away the corporate university phrasing, the reality of his performance across those roles is straightforward:
The Auckland Building: He did not pioneer a new way of learning. He simply used his administrative veto to stop the university from spending nearly $300 million on an outdated, 1950s-style layout, forcing them to build a standard modern facility instead.
The Wellington Deficit: The financial turnaround was not achieved through an innovative commercial strategy. It was achieved through the arithmetic of mass redundancies—cutting over 200 staff members to forcibly balance the books.
The Cost-of-Living Defense: While university leadership blamed Wellington's specific rental market and flight costs for the 12% enrollment drop, the reality is that the entire country was hurting. The personal marketing push to high school principals was likely a damage-control exercise to repair a self-inflicted reputation crisis and a broken internal enrollment system.
Ultimately, rather than a series of unique strategic triumphs, his track record reflects a standard executive executing typical corporate interventions—cutting costs when in debt and modernizing plans when building. And a bold 'talk toughness' he's never had to experience. It's not bad, but lord knows where the hero statements come from. Let's see the next step changing hero stuff begin!
I suppose I mainly mean Faye Resnick and Camille but these self defined a listers have clung on by their well manicured nails for all this time and it’s feels almost like a sort of a quiet desperation…I suppose I’m not in that way of life so maybe any exposure is helpful to remain relevant…?
It struck me that everyone knows and thinks this when Dorit popped the bubble and said ‘Do you need a moment?’ to Camille. (NEED).
It wasn’t so much a reference to being part of the conversation as needing to insert herself in some controversy to stay show adjacent. Was sort of too real about the roles. like ‘Bravo Bravo Bravo’ was supposed to pop a bubble.
My theory is these two have been helpful to Kyle’s longevity on the show. Although she’s not a celebrated thinker, Kyle has been very good at getting the right friends on the show and I think it’s strategic.
These ‘friends’ start to look like one up from assistant at times. My sense of the assistant job is therapeutic: it is a lot of it is listening to and repeating back and affirming the tidal wave of prattle in the heads of the housewives that would otherwise be voices needing medication. I get the sense assistants often get the boot after just about totally coincidentally coinciding with when a season is done.
What did they know? Taylor Armstrong’s abuse was said by Camille to be the secret they were all keeping.
Erika revealed an allegation Tom had been abusive. Denise revealed allegations of systemic abuse.
And even Kim Richard’s abuse of whatever she was on, what was the responsibility to at least remove her from a show she had become both volatile as a cast member and acting to her detriment.
The producers knowledge of these events and the considerable mileage and $ they got from them means it deserves scrutiny.
These were crafted into stories which in Taylor’s case became a central part of her narrative. And let’s not pretend Bravo just happened to be there as a fly on the wall at the right times.
If Russell had beaten Taylor to death, would Bravo have hidden behind a hold harmless and liability release despite it all? Do producers know more than the h-wives? Or are they just seizing the opportunities?
Don’t shoot the messenger! Genuine questions here. I don’t know enough about this world behind the scenes. Seeing the Reunion made me suddenly think that Andy acts as though he has an umbrella view of it all. It has just made me wonder recently whether (morally legally) a storyline might end and exploitation might begin.
I remember after email came in but when it was still kind of hybrid and there were futurists (not called that then) who were projecting the work day would be reduced to a number of hours just like Musk predicted work will be voluntary or similar. I actually heard someone say working hours would be reduced about AI the other day.
What email did was it increased my written letters from maybe 12 a day to 50-80 emails a day and increased the expectations around my response and lessened my phone engagement. Maybe I’m going top Amish on this but I’m just interested if you are pondering the counterfactual as well as the good stuff?