IS IT THE IMMIGRATION DONATION SCANDAL THATS PRECIPITATING THIS?

MIKE WILLIAMS TIPPED TO RESIGN THIS WEEK. This from stuff

Best story of the week.

GREAT MUSIC , GREAT WOMAN GREAT CAUSE

Julie is a mate . She is also a very talented singer. Her mum died of Breast Cancer so 10% of the album sales will go to Breast Cancer research.

This will be a great concert reminiscent of the old Sunday Afternoon jam sessions at the 1860 bar in Wellington for those who are the same vintage as me and remember back that far.

So if you aint doin anything on Sunday 14 Dec rip along to the San Francisco Bath House in Cuba St. You are sure to have a good time.

Its free and you get a bite to eat as well.

Bluzilla (Des Mallon Vocals; Ben Litchfield Bass; Mike Jamieson Guitar, Harp and Vocals; Conrad Finch Lead; and featuring Ian Parker on drums.) 1/2 hour set

The Spines (John McLeary Vocals and Guitar; Les Knight Bass and Rikki Gooch Drums) 1/2 hour set

Julie Lamb - the album launch 45minute set

Musicians:

Drums: Des Mellon

Percussion: Des Mallon - (Andreas Lepper at the launch)

Bass: Elliotte Fuimaono

Guitar: Andy Mauafua/Mike Jamieson/Des Mallon

Horns: Damian Forlong and Andre Paris

Accordian: Rebecca Greig

Keys: Ed Zuccollo/Zach Beard/Jim Rush/Ben Litchfield (Ed Zuccollo at the launch)

Mandolin: Alistair Cuthill

Cello: Tim Beals

Saw: Lockie Stewart

Vocals Julie Lamb

Choir Vox Serbicus

Main BV's Dave Feehan/Emma Davey

And this from Julie.

This album project has been amazing. I have had the fortune to work with some incredible musicians, and met more than my fair share of generous and supportive souls. Thanks to you all.
The album name comes not only from the lyrics of one of the songs, but also from the sentiment ‘that it's the most I’ve done so far, and the least I will do’.
It’s a mixed genre collection - from 5 part acapella (with Vox Serbicus) to full on blues, funk and rock numbers. I really hope you enjoy it as much - actually MORE - than I’ve enjoyed making it... Then it will be truly stellar!

"My Mother Made Me Do It!"

MCULLYAVELLI -

Tracy Watkins from the Dom Post has penned a interesting piece on Murray McCully in the Dominion today. We have worked with him. We have worked against him . We respect him.

This quote from the original Prince is one that perhaps the modern day Minister of the Dark Arts should note.

Men ought either to be indulged or utterly destroyed, for if you merely offend them they take vengeance, but if you injure them greatly they are unable to retaliate, so that the injury done to a man ought to be such that vengeance cannot be feared.
Niccolo Machiavelli

HOW WILL CHANGE COME ABOUT IF THERE IS NO CHANGE?

This story from Stuff is very annoying.

Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples used humour to reassure Te Puni Kokiri's staff members their jobs were safe - saying they did not have to look for a new job "at least for a week".

Humourous maybe but we need major reorganisation of the lard arsed public service. And if the Maori party want a department that delivers what they want they are going to have to make some changes to Te Puni Kokiri and feed in to the process of change required in other government departments.

Referring to comments earlier in the year that he wanted the Maori development agency revamped, he took a light-hearted approach yesterday as he met staff there to dispel their job security fears. "There is no major review going to be done on your department so you don't need to apply for any other job this week - or even next week," he said.

Well what we want to know is how the hell are you going to change the way things are being delivered to your people Pita!

Dr Sharples led a powerful new Government delegation to the meeting, including his three fellow Maori Cabinet ministers, National's Georgina te Heuheu and Paula Bennett, and Maori Party co-leader, Tariana Turia. There was a lot of apprehension among staff in the buildup to the meeting, resulting from remarks Dr Sharples made earlier this year that he wanted to see Te Puni Kokiri revamped.

They are just as apprehensive as workers in every other govt department and rightly so. If this govt ( which includes the Maori Party ) does not respond to the calls for a more efficient public service then they will be doing this country a grave disservice.

According to its website, the agency employs 335 permanent staff.

Like most Govt departments there are a lot of thinkers, quite a few hui ' ers and bugger all doers.

Dr Sharples confirmed yesterday that he intended placing greater emphasis on the work the department did on Maori health.

We we could not agree more - but to do that he is going to have the make structural and policy changes to effect any difference in delivery.

Among those at the meeting were agency chief executive Leith Comer, Maori Language Commission chairman Erima Henare and chief executive Huhana Rokx, Maori Television deputy chairman Wena Tait and chief executive Jim Mather, and Te Mangai Paho chair Jacqui Te Kani.

Also at yesterday's meet and greet session for the four Maori ministers were Maori Party MPs Te Ururoa Flavell and Rahui Katene, and National's new Maori list MPs Paul Quinn and Hekia Parata.

The National led Government cannot loose sight of the need to make changes to the public service. Staff know they can do better and the loudest of calls for change are coming from within govt departments. What the govt cannot do is be dishonest. It should be very clear that changes are needed and that will result in changes to peoples jobs. Otherwise it is the most dishonest of politics which will not serve this country well.

MCCARDLE FOR THE HILL?

This in from govt prawn


Apparently former Minister of Labour and Act policy manager Peter McCardle is heading back to do some work on the Hill.

DEMISE OF FLAGSTAFF- THE BOYS OWN CLUB

This in from SPAZ

Today sees the demise of a Wellington institution, the Flagstaff Club. The club was formed as the Capital’s monthly lunch venue and put up the closed sign today after thirty years of serious eating and drinking.

The club was born at the St George Hotel, gaining its name from the Flagstaff hill on which the hotel stands. The luncheons originally offered a general speaking forum, but as members’ preferences were focused on sporting personalities, the focus moved there.

Speakers included: Colin Meads, Buck Shelford, Graham Lowe, Dick Taylor and club members Keith Quinn and Earl Kirton.

Special guest today is the original St George proprietor, Jack Cooper, who has made the trip from the Cook Islands where he is best known as Trader Jack.

It was also the only club that managed to keep the faith. It never ever allowed women members. We thought that was bloody cool. Trader Jack will be a great speaker - we had lunch with him yesterday - He's a good bastard and he has some amazing stories to tell for a boy who came from Island Bay.
But from time to time in that wonderful tax haven he calls home he does keep some interesting company. BB

JOURNALIST ON THE MOVE

Oskar Alley the Dominions Chief reporter has a new job - as Assistant Editor at the Dom Post.
We remember when he and Jonathan Milne, dep editor at the Herald on Sunday - were pups, yappy go getting pups nonetheless and its good to see they are continuing on as newshounds.
Whats even better is that they are both good people.

GIRLY STUFF

There is a war between Hugh Jackaman and George Clooney as to who is the sexiest

So Who is the sexiest ? See the poll in the side bar.

WHALE OIL THINKS GOOGLE IS CLEVER - WE THINK MUTTONBIRDS ARE

Whale oil waxes on about how cool it is that Google data is now so extensive it is being used as a tool to predict flu epidemics.

It is clever but muttonbird harvest also provide us with unique predictions on weather patterns.

You see Titi ( muttonbird) harvests fluctuate . some years they are fat and abundant - and other years skinny and scarce. A birder had a diary that went back 50 years that recorded the harvest and it showed a clear correlation between the arrival of El Nino and El Nina Weather patterns.

This is all I could find on the Net - its from Otago University who have been studying Titi for about 15 years.

Climate-related patterns in titi harvest rates: Birders' diairies have been

analysed for trends in harvest rates and practices. Analysis of a 20-year plus

record of harvest information from a birder's diary led to the very significant

discovery of a strong link between titi harvest rates and ENSO weather

patterns. This statistical analysis was corroborated by birders' traditional

knowledge regarding long-term trends in titi abundance. Other diaries and

data sources are being examined to confirm the large-scale nature of this

finding.

Since then the correlation has been corroborated further.

So wee fluffy yummy birdies are just as good as bigger than big google at prediction.

WHY RODNEY NEEDS TO CLEAN UP LOCAL GOVERNMENT

We have a big shed - 120sqm that was built to house specs that may one day become a house on a ten acre block in rural NZ - We camp in it from time to time.

We want to put a toilet and shower and a washbasin in - You would think that would be simple.
The council told us it would be pretty simple - an amendment to the original building consent.

Anyway - we have submitted all the paper work and this particular council says it takes at least 20 working days to process applications. so on day 24 we get this response -

Building Consent Authorities need to be satisfied that compliance with the building code will be met when issuing a Building Consent.
Please forward the following information to prove compliance with the requirements of the NZ building code.

• The submitted documents lack detailed specifications. Would you please provide the written specifications as underpin the already submitted documents as detail the proposed work thereby demonstrating how compliance with the Building code will be achieved for the proposed works.

Please reference the building consent application number when responding to the above request. Approval of this applications has been suspended until your plans and or specifications have been amended to conform with the above comments.

It doesn't even make sense.
We submitted about 30 pages of docs - with all the F***king details. God only knows what you would need to do to build a bloody house!

So it looks like we will have a port loo and solar shower over xmas -

Pissed off doesn't begin to describe how we feel. but I wont name the council because we all know what happens when you piss off the council building inspector - they are more powerful and vindictive than the last Labour Government !

WOULD MCCARTHY MAKE A BETTER BLOGGER THAN A BROADCASTER?

After all we are the kings and queens of borrowing other peoples work - mind you we do tend to attribute it.

Noelle says sorry. Poor wee poppet. We will be interested to see what it does to her career long term.. Plagiarism is a still one of the no no's in Journalism.

WHALE WANTS BLOOD

We could not agree more - .Whale oil has some very good reasons why.
Have they no shame ?

BILL PLAYS SANTA

NBR says Bill English has outlined his economic stimulus package ( does anyone else think that sounds mildly sexual???!!) And its a pretty big stimulus -$ 7 billion. Noice.

YUCK

This in from Jafaprawn

Which defeated Labour Cabinet Minister is said to have used taxpayer money to fly his taxpayer-paid and supposedly nonpartisan portfolio private secretaries to fly to Auckland to hand out Labour Party propaganda around his electorate and provide other advice and assistance to his campaign?

Hint: It’s the same defeated Labour Cabinet Minister who, as part of his electorate office’s work in assisting people to enrol to vote, is said to have destroyed voter enrolment forms from people suspected of being likely to vote National, and only forwarded the enrolment forms to the Electoral Commission if he thought the potential voter was a Labourite.

Another hint: It’s the same defeated Labour Cabinet Minister who used his taxpayer-paid staff to write creepy congratulations letters to every kid in his electorate who won a prize at their school prizegivings. And we’re not just talking secondary-school kids. Come third in chess at your local primary school in his electorate and you could expect to get a personally signed letter from your local MP – with handwritten “PSs” to the parents. Yuk.

WE HAVE BEEN TAGGED

BB has been home crook with the flu for three days. Hence the blogging.

Now we have been tagged by M and M this means I have to tell you 7 things you wouldn't know about me.

1 - I have a deformed ear.
2 - I had a trick pony called Lancer who used to rear and kneel down on command
3 - I have killed approx 40,000 muttonbirds by crushing their brains with my teeth severing the brain from the brain stem causing instantaneous death. Consequently one of my back bicuspids is buggered.
4 - I co-negotiated a $11.2m Maori land settlement package on land that wasn't our family's - and got paid $210 for it.
5 - I once wrote a press release about extracting semen from bees
6 - I do cross stitch because it is relaxing
7 - blue cod livers are my favourite seafood - but they do have the propensity to make you fart.

so the rules are

• Link to the person who tagged you
• Post the rules
• Share seven random or weird facts about yourself
• Tag 7 random people at the end of the post with their links

SO NOW i TAG
MWT
macdoctor
Inquiring mind
dear john
big news
poneke
jafapete

YESS MASSAH

KIDMAN AND THE MOON

I never thought a man as gracious as Ban Ki Moon would have appreciated the skinny white ass of a vacuous woman with pumped up lips who isn't the best actress in the world but this picture from the Australian would say otherwise. Apparently the porcelain peahen is at the UN delivering a petition calling for an end to violence toward women. Thats a good thing but apparently the movie Australia is not.

SETTING THE AGENDA

We were a bit perturbed to hear that Agenda on TV1 is on the way out. It was a pretty stuffy show but at least we got a dollop of good political debate once a week. However we think it is time for a format change - to ensure that younger voters find it appealing.As a nation we need to ensure that young people stay engaged in the political process. The Back Benches Show on channel 7 Freeview is a much more entertaining show but still manages to inform. And we like anything that takes the piss out of people who have big egos.

Now surely someone can come up with a format that marries the both shows and reaches a wider audience.

And of course BackBenches is filmed live so you can be part of the fun at the Back Bencher pub tonight.

NATIONAL HIRES TOP GUNS

Its good to see the Nats hire some good people to bed down new Ministers as reported in Stuff. We are also particularly pleased to see Paula Oliver join the PM's team. She is one of the most solid journos we have ever worked with and has integrity in spades.

BEER GOGGLES ARE REAL

Its true, beer does give you that dewy vision but for the wrong reasons. Seems four or more beers a day will make you go blind. From the Australian

NICE DAY FOR A WHITE RIBBON

Domestic violence is a spreading red stain on our society. Every day more horror stories are told, and the broken bodies pile up.

We can look from the outside and wonder why women stay with abusive partners. We used to think the answer to that was the women were weak. But it is much more complicated than that.

I was in an abusive relationship. It was over ten years ago and it lasted at five years. Now, for those who know me now, but not then, it will come as a shock that I would have stayed. It was simple, you always wake up thinking things will get better and that somehow it is your fault. I have had a career that has spanned many areas of interest and have been pretty successful. But I allowed myself to get into a relationship with someone who had counsellors who told me privately , that he would kill me if I stayed with him. They said he did not love me - his was an obsession. I should have seen it - I was working in a prison and had seen so many times the results of obsessive "love."

Sometimes the violence was obtuse, drunken rages, punching seventeen holes in the walls of a house I had just redecorated. It was when it involved my son that the tide turned. He was drunk, we argued and he pulled a carving knife on me and my son stepped in between us. I called the police and left him that week. He spent a year doing anger management and stopped drinking.

His family and friends said he was ok and maybe we should give it another go. I did.

It was the dumbest decision of my life. He started drinking again - never with me but I smelt it on him. I knew I had to go. Someone offered me a job in Wellington in October and I literally ran away - I went home for Christmas and we went away on the boat. I told him that it was really over and I needed to make a new life. He pulled a gun on me. There was just him and me in a quiet inlet. I talked him down. The next day I got to a plane and flew out and never looked back. I have seen him from time to time and now wonder what I ever saw in him.

So why do we stay with abusive men? I don't know the answer to that - for me, I just thought he would change and it would come right. I think that some men do get a handle on their violence and can change. But if they continue to drink and take drugs no manner of counselling will change anyone.


So White Ribbon day is the day I remember an ugly chapter in my past and know I wont ever let it happen to me again.

THE PERFECT STORM OR THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY

One of the things we have learnt over the last few months is the power of the " new media" the blogs, websites, U Tube Myspace etc.

We were always avid almost obsessive readers of news and listeners to the broadcast media. Now we only get the weekend editions and only listen to RNZ morning report- its definitely lefty but it does set agendas. These days we read the online editions of most major papers, cherry picking stories that interest us. We now read overseas papers on line like The Australian. Today it has a very interesting piece that follows on from the previous post. It covers a report that looks at what is being billed as the "perfect storm" for traditional media. We reckon it is smack on.

This from the Australian

JOURNALISTS have been warned they cannot be spectators if they are to survive the new world of media fragmentation and digitalisation -- an environment dubbed a "perfect storm".

"A report, Life in the Clickstream: The Future of Journalism, released today by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, warns that the Western media industry faces "two years of carnage", squeezed by the global economic meltdown and the unravelling of traditional economic models.

The report reveals that more than 12,000 journalists worldwide have lost their jobs so far this year.

Thats a lot of journos and we have seen some serious downsizing here in NZ as well.

Media Alliance federal secretary Christopher Warren says journalism has traditionally thrived on the emergence of disruptive technologies even as economic models have changed.

"Like all crises, the challenges journalism faces are rewriting everything we thought we knew about the news media and causing us to question the basis on which the industry has survived and flourished," Warren says.

The shifts experienced in the media are "exciting and disquieting", and journalists are using technology to find new and progressive ways to keep the public informed, he says. It's "disquieting because the mainstream industry is in such turmoil".

And the way that journalists are doing their jobs has changed significantly. We here this from our mainstream journo friends all the time. They have to write stories fit for publishing throughout the day whereas once they were chasing one deadline.

The report reveals the introduction of new technology and shrinking workforces has resulted in more than 70 per cent of journalists reporting increased workloads, with 43 per cent saying they have "increased a lot".

More than 55 per cent received no compensation for increased work and 57 per cent say they received no training for their changing roles and were expected to pick it up as they go along.

We think that the following in right on the money

The report also looks at what might evolve if mainstream news organisations collapse, citing research from the City University of New York that postulates an organic news organisation could evolve.

Based on bloggers, video shooters and photographers, it would be augmented by community managers, program developers artists and run by just a handful of editors, all on an annual budget of $2.1 million.

The report concludes that all stakeholders need to be active in shaping the future, providing adequate training and ending work intensification.

SuperBlog anyone?

OH LORDY - BB IS A SEX SYMBOL

Well almost - Scalia reckon BB was one of the three hottest female bloggers. Nah Cactus is way hotter than BB . Whale Oil calls BB a " Nana" -

Madeline won the competition . Well deserved we say!

BLOGS GONE QUIET

We here at the prawn have had a great run commenting , musing , shit stirring, pretending to be a journalist, commentating and generally taking the piss over the last few months . and we were going to hang up our key board and did for about a week . We will continue for a while and see how things go - we still have some scampi, hoki, seafood issues to explore. We also note that Home Paddock is sad at the demise of Antidismal which is the latest blogger to succumb to blog fatigue.

We reckon that it maybe time for a few of the blogs to join together to get more critical mass and wider readership. More in the style of the Pundit which we find too worthy and not enough fun but its starting to get some traction so maybe it needs some serious competition. So if you aren't doing this because of some sort of ego trip but want to widen the debate on the big issues and at the same time introduce another layer of humour and fun in the blogosphere then maybe this is time for a few of us to to get together and form a "superblog". I reckon we need - a motoring nut, a sport billy, cartoonist, a political commentator, food and wine buff, for starters.

MOJITOS AND PORCINE DELIGHTS

We reckon we are on the eve of a big slump but we have found a place where the drinking and eating prawns can go and feel like all is well in the world. Its the newest restaurant bar in Wellington called Osteria del Toro.

Now BB arrived in Wellington 10 years ago and didn't know the difference between sauvignon blanc and Cabernet sauvignon - not even the fact they were a different colour. ( we did know a bit about beer though)

anyway after a whirlwind exposure we soon had the wine thing sorted and loved nothing better than a lovely sav blanc - appreciation of reds came took about two years and was mainly centred on the fruity pinot noirs of NZ. It was another three years before we discovered the old Tuscans and that some good tipples came out of Chile and Argentina.
Now days we still know bugger all about wine compared to some of our more sophisticated wine buff mates but we understand the grace and beauty and depth that can be found in wines from far away places. And we know that many of our wines are overpriced to buggery and lack depth and character.

So this is why Osteria del Toro is a very good place. - It does not stock NZ wines. Nada - none. There isn't even an Aussie red on the shelves. We think this a great sign of maturity.

So far we have had pizzas and nibbles for lunch and a stunning Portuguese Touriga /Roriz Barco Negro Douro 05. BB is more Portuguese than Maori so it was a fitting choice.
the good thing is they serve more than a few bottles by the half and full carafe. So its cheap drinking.

We are going back for more. On Wednesday nites they have Mojito and suckling pig - yip just wine and meat. BB is a militant carnivore so its going to be a "must do". Well done John Lawrence and his team for the opulent fit out and knowledgeable staff who introduced us to the pleasures of good sherry hitherto unknown by our grandparents who were used to some sickly shite from McWilliams that even made the trifle taste funny.

OF TRAINS AND WANKERS

Me and the Aussie Rock are weekend warriors. On Friday nite its off on the train to Masterton - to pick up the jalopy and then the bliss of 10 acres of rural paradise up the Rangitumau Valley where we camp in a shed that will one day be our house.

Anyway we quite like the train. Its pretty comfy and you if you get to the station early enough you can get a seat with a table and a power plug - in fact all seats have at least one power plug. So its a blogger delight - you can plug in juice up the wireless card and write for an hour and a half or work f needs must.

So its a bloody hot day here in Masterton and we arrive early. This grumpy curmudgeonly old train conductor - with a pommy accent was on the platform - looking - well shitty. Anyway I had my lap top and my backpack. normally I shove my backpack in the racks above and the lap top bag under my feet.

Anyway he barked at me and said that all my luggage would have to go into the back of the train.
I told him that my lap top would stick with me. He said that he was " just enforcing the rules and luggage had to go in the back. Now this is about my 15th train trip and the first time I have had this problem.

So off I went and duly put my little backpack down the back of the train.

Now all of this would have been fine but guess what ? I have counted at least 3 big bags and 15 back packs in the this carriage alone. I can tolerate rules - its inconsistency, and officious wankers I don't like.

And while I am at it the air conditioning needs sorted . Its doesn't work.

However it is a very pretty trainride and for $15 bucks one way - v good value.

BEAUJOLAIS DAY A WINNER

Many of the prawns enjoy a tipple and one of the favourite haunts in Wellington is Beaujolais.

Its a litttle wine bar tucked under the top steps on Woodward St. Some of us were there yesterday as its Beaujolais Day. The celebration of the first of the Beaujolias made from the Gamay Noir grape.

In many ways its not the greatest red wine. But its a hell of a good day.
This year Pete and Debs put on a lovely degustation menu, which considering the Boj kitchen is the size of a royal albert side plate was a stirling effort.

First up was a lovely demi tasse cup of roasted capsicum salmon and caviar soup. Next up was a fantastic tasing plate of little meaty morsels. then a palate cleanser and on to the main course - a wonderful duck , orange and kumara salad.
Pete and Steve entertain the diners

It was superb. the duck was divine. there was then a stunning little interlude of pear and white balsamic dipping sauce, followed by a washed rind cheese then profiteroles.
It was a splendid lunch and great atmosphere.

It was also great to see Janet Grey and Steve Morris from Copita helping out. Janet was cooking up a storm on the BBQ dishing up some very popular duck sausages.
Its a great place, great atmosphere, a excellent place to hide( its well known as the place to take your mistress) and Pete and Debs know their wine and food.

WISHART HAS THE HARD COPY ON SHANE JONES SCANDAL

We always knew that there was something in the immigration scandal swirling around Shane Jones that Ian Wishart broke on his new online news paper TGIF. during the election. Our seafood contacts told us there was some crap that wasn't tidy, the day before the story broke and Clark launched an inquiry into the affair to shut it down fast during the election. Then Jones was named as number 12 by Goff - not a real vote of confidence for someone who was once tipped to be the first Maori PM.

TGIF has forwarded Roarprawn a preview of their online edition. Wishart has the goods.

We reckon this has the potential to end Jones career.

WHEY LESS PROFIT FOR DAIRY INDUSTRY

This from The Herald - It was expected but hell can we have some good news please?

SHANE JONES AT 12???

Shane's lack of elevation in the latest line up of Labour's shadow cabinet has the Kumara vine all a twitter. He was once seen as the great brown hope. but he remains mired at number 12.
He did himself no favours over the shower issue either and three years on the opposition benches will bore him shitless.
We also wonder if his lack of elevation past number 12 has anything to do with TGIF tonight and more on the immigration scandal. Of all the stories that Wishart has done - this is the one that has the most legs.

A MAN WHO WILL SHAPE THE MINDS OF OUR CHILDREN?

We dont think so. But from this story in Stuff it appears that John Tamihere is seriously considering allowing Clint Rickards to look after some youth programmes at Waipareira.

You see we are a bit ambivalent about Rickards. Its pretty obvious he had some very crap views of women in his younger day . He may have changed , we hope he has, but nothing we have seen anywhere gives us any indication that he is sorry for his past , can understand the impact his actions may have had or that he thinks he did any thing wrong.

Sorry, but until he can go into a room full of kids and say - you never want to be what I was , then he shouldn't be allowed near them.

It is men like him who reinforce the warped beliefs of those who were responsible for the death of Nia Glassie.

And we wonder if the possible employment of Rickards to the Waipareira Trust is an indication of Tamiheres own attitudes toward women?

OF BLACK EYED BEASTS AND BALLERINAS

Nia Glassie could have been a ballerina but we will never know because her life was cut short by bad people .That is the real tragedy. You see we have seen the dead eyes of the lost and forgotten, many times. They are chilling, as it is not anger or sorrow you see - its is just a deep emptiness. They are simply, souless.
Those are the eyes that Nia Glassie saw every day of her little short life. To her killers she was an irrelevancy, a broken toy, a soft ball to be kicked but she was never loved, of that we are sure.
We have a society that allows children to grow up into black eyed beasts that kill our innocents. That must change. We need our children to grow up into men and women who respect life and the living.
That a disproportionate number are Maori is not something we can back away from for fear of being called racist. The Maori Party now has the portfolios that can make a difference and that may mean together we can finally find ways to stop young men becoming black eyed beasts and let little girls, with pretty names and soft brown eyes full of innocence, grow up and dance for the world.

SCAMPI

It isn't over. It may not be the best career move we have made but at the end of the day you have to follow your heart and hope that the head works out the best track. We still think that there are more stories to be told about fish.

Just to set the record straight - no one is paying us. We just want to see this story to its logical conclusion because we saddled up the white charger and he ain't done yet. ( wont Poneke be apoplectic about all the crap grammar and "hysteria") .

So among the restaurant reviews, the political gossip and the various snippets on life - there will be a thread of fish stories. They will smell bad but they will be interesting and we wont give up till we hear the turn of the key in the big brass lock.

and thanks for making us the 11th most popular blog - we are humbled by your support.

WE ARE BACK!!!

More help, more brains, more fun, and much more than BB and a few part timers. Occasionally we will post really good erotica just to satisfy some of the carnal desires of some of our older readers.

Oh and just because we can be serious as well, a few political snippets.

Watch this space!

PS: Who saw Winston at Dockside yesterday???

And is it true the Hurdy Gurdy man is coming to town? And who will he be working for? And will he have the Energy to hack the Pace?

WE ARE GOING ON A BLOG HOLIDAY - AND WE WILL BE GONE FOR SOMETIME

We have blogoholism. It is very similar to being under the spell of the piss fairy. So we are going to go away dig gardens, eat whitebait, catch and smoke eels and receive some intensive counselling. We will drink good wine, like a nice bottle of Winston Churchill and another of Hill of Grace we have been saving to celebrate the ebbing of the red tide and the dismissal of Winston and of course, the Maori Party being offered political partnership. We are also writing a book - but its not about scampi but about spies and fish and stuff.
We would like to thank you all for your support - and we had heaps of it. Just on 3000 of you tuned in one day and by the end of the day we will have clocked over 65,000 visitors since we started late in August.
Maybe in time, we will do another blog thats just about food and wine - but not for a while.
We remain and will always be true Blue. We think we got just the Right mix in the end so to speak. Because we also support the Maori Party. And we think John Key is going to be a very very good Prime Minister. So thanks to all the grumpy buggers on the Left who gave us lots of information for us to share with everyone. And double thanks to the journos who helped us and whom we helped a bit in return.

If you need to contact us BB will take care of all correspondence so email her on bustedblonde@gmail.com

So from
Bustedblonde
The Brunette
3 Maori prawns
Designing prawn
hairy oyster
the sweeper
steamy boy
whetu chini
diplomatic prawn
dining prawn
the strapper
Wanaka fisherman
and of course Spaz,
Arohanui and

See You On the Tide

DEPARTING PRESS SECRETARIES AND GETTING INTO SEE A MINISTER, AND TRANS TASMAN

All press secretaries are on force majeure contracts. That means that when your Minister walks - you walk too and you get 2 months redundancy. Sounds like a good deal - but not really it seems - we know that one of the prawns who is in a government department where the redundancy is 4 months. And apparently the pay has not risen much for press secs in 10 years either. Socialists do the job for love it seems.

The other issue is the exorbitant cost that the previous administration extracted for audiences with Ministers. It was high. Complain about a lack of access and you got a visit from a party official who loves Melbourne ( or was it Sydney???) and then there was a suggestion that a donation was good. We heard that one company stumped up $50k.
It was simply - outrageous - but not something that many people would discuss openly. But it appears everyone is talking about it now.
Then there are the PR/Govt relations "gurus" who charged people $5000 and up for a meeting with a Minister.We would hope that will not be condoned under the new regime.
And Trans- Tasman has some good stuff on Nicky Hager and pan Maori caucuses this week - you can either subscribe to it ( its worth it ) or for more information on these two snippets you can read this and this.
However we do know one thing that TransTasman doesn't - We have it on very good authority that Queen Bee is really none other than the vivacious blonde Sarah Palin look a like Cathy Wood.