Posted by Waikanae watchers | Filed under Uncategorized
koha concert in Reikorangi
16 Thursday Feb 2017
16 Thursday Feb 2017
16 Thursday Feb 2017
Posted Uncategorized
inA couple of pics from the Vintage Los Angeles blog showing a horrible new building on Sunset Boulevard and what it replaced.
“In the summer of 1958, Dean Martin and his business partner, Maury Samuels, bought a former restaurant called The Alpine Lodge located at 8500 Sunset Boulevard. They immediately renamed it Dino’s Lodge. Out front they placed an enormous neon sign featuring Dean Martin’s handsome face and it became one of Hollywood’s campiest novelties. The suit and tie jazz joint served steaks and breakfast until 4 a.m!! (See the marquee). The interior included dark wood paneling and leather booths (perhaps meant to replicate Martin’s personal den). Continuous entertainment was provided in a separate cocktail lounge that promoted female singers. But by 1960, Dino had flown the coop for the Sands in Las Vegas and sold the restaurant to new owners who kept the name and neon sign for 27 additional years. Visitors flocked to the restaurant in hopes of getting a glimpse of Martin, but his neon face is as close as they got. This location was also used for 1950s show 77 Sunset Strip. The opening 30-second sequence was filmed in front on Sunset Blvd.
“By the early ’70s, the swanky restaurant that had once hosted parties for Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, and Eartha Kitt descended into a tourist trap and was abandoned by its celebrity clientele. During the Miami Vice era, the block on which the restaurant sat suffered a devastating makeover. What was left of Dino’s Lodge, the Tiffany Theatre, North Beach Leather, and the old remains of the 1960s dance club, The Sea Witch were all stuccoed over, leaving them unrecognizable. A 77 SUNSET STRIP dedication was later engraved directly in from of the original entrance.
“This entire block was demolished to make way for a massive new development that resembles a prison. But I’m happy to discover that the plaque is still on the street and survived.
“I think even the city planners were fooled. It looks nothing like the original rendering. They should just tear it down and start over! And we thought the Beverly Center was ugly!”
The obvious lesson — property developers must be closely scrutinized before and during what they build. This happens all the time.
16 Thursday Feb 2017
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inThe Parata settlement on the east side of the railway line and the Waimeha Beach settlement (neither referred to as such now) was about all the development there was at that stage. There are a few Maori pa sites shown, including the Tuku Rakau pa in the area between Greenway Road and Puriri Street — info
15 Wednesday Feb 2017
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inCompanies, organisations and individuals arguably make political donations for one reason only: to influence Australian politics. In a bid to trace the money and map its flow, ABC News has analysed the official donations data to reveal the industries and people using their riches in a bid to buy influence. ABC’s analysis reveals property and […]
via Political donations: New data maps industries’ web of influence — Pittwater Forever
This is, of course, the reason why political donations need to be scrutinized, see the earlier post from Guy Burns. In Kapiti, nearly all candidates stand as independents and the only organised ticket we saw last year was the strange one for the Waikanae Community Board, but it was successful in that three of the four got onto it.
15 Wednesday Feb 2017
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in15 Wednesday Feb 2017
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inIn the past week we have observed the following prices for a litre of 91 — Wellington $2.06; Paraparaumu $1.94; Levin $1.81.
Why does it get cheaper the further north from Wellington you go?
That’s the general area into which Energy Minister Judith Collins said last week there is an investigation underway. The study will focus on fuel company returns and take an in-depth look at the companies’ finances.
Ms Collins said fuel margins had more than doubled over the last five years.
The study would “determine if companies are making super-normal profits or not”. Other financial benchmarks may also be used.
In America the Google maps app tells you what pump prices are at each service station; in NZ you need to rely on reports of friends or on social media.
14 Tuesday Feb 2017
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inWe’ve mentioned lifesize gold statues in earlier posts, but North Korea goes one better than that — giant bronze statues to be venerated. And the country also makes them for export orders.
The Roadfather at the time the Expressway was decided upon was then Minister of Transport, Steven Joyce, who is now near the top of the cabinet ranking. Should he not get a giant bronze statue by the roadside (illuminated at night) so that grateful truckers on the Expressway — as well as over Transmission Gully — will be reminded of who they should be thankful to? 🙂
14 Tuesday Feb 2017
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inAs mentioned in the earlier post, there is a completion event scheduled for Thursday 16th, but it is only for big knobs in the government and their guests. A public event is scheduled for Saturday. From the NZTA website :-
The Mackays to Peka Peka Expressway is nearly ready to open to traffic, so the M2PP team would like to invite you to the Kāpiti Coast ExpressDay – your chance to experience part of the Expressway before it opens to traffic later in February.
Walk or bus 5 kilometres of Expressway between Te Roto Drive in Paraparaumu, or Te Moana Road in Waikanae. Thanks to the generosity of Mana Coach Services ExpressTours will run from both sites throughout the day.
The ExpressDay route is open to pedestrians and mobility scooters/wheelchairs on one side and tour buses on the other side. People can also choose to try out 5 km of shared pathway alongside the Expressway.
Start your journey at either Te Roto Drive in Paraparaumu for fun and entertainment, or Te Moana Road in Waikanae, for education and expert speakers….
At the Te Moana Zone there’ll be Expressway experts sharing their stories about construction and more and the Expressway 101 tent will be the place to find out more about how you’ll use the Expressway and revisit some of the Mackays to Peka Peka construction, environmental and archaelogical stories.
All you ever wanted to know about the Expressway, so it seems. That balloon graphic is a little ironic considering that activists opposed to the Expressway toted balloons at the opening of the Waikanae railway electrification in February 2011, one balloon for every house eliminated to make way for the Expressway.
14 Tuesday Feb 2017
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in13 Monday Feb 2017
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inAs is the custom of sold-out NZ media, there’s been little if any mention of this intended drop of deadly 1080 tomorrow anywhere. The lure baits have already been dropped today (13th Feb 17) to get our wildlife eating and trusting, while tomorrow they will be munching on genuine deadly 1080, courtesy of Mt Hutt […]