Wanna busk with me on Broadway, Saturdays 2pm on?
- If you are a bit extrovert and like to sing, especially for fun in the street, this might interest you. 'Almost no money in it, sorry, it's just for fun and the good of the town.
- For a few years I've enjoyed busking opposite the Regent each Saturday from 2pm to about 4pm, rain or shine. I'd like to find one or two others who'd join me doing it. The public is often cheery, often toss a coin in the hat, sometimes stop to yak or even sing or dance with friends.
- Nothing complicated - just songs the public knows and loves, but if you can play uke or guitar as well, good. Even batt-powered keyboard maybe. - ALSO I'm equipped to do YouTube karaoke for favourite songs. 'Just search for it, bingo, start singing along to it. 'Some marvelous spontaneous little sessons in the past, from people who stopped.
- Benefits...
º Maintain music ability & public confidence
º Cycle out out for a break from being inside
º Get exercise,
º Enliven Broadway after the Plaza took a lot of foot traffic away. (Although the Plaza is a warm retreat in miserable weather, Broadway is the valuable 'human' space. You see 'real', independent shops. You see 'community' street life that includes our poor, our bored roamers & desperadoes, a parade of traffic of all sorts, our frustrated teens, families with strollers, old people, mobility riders, people off to the movies, cafes, the Regent, etc.)
- It's can be more than just playing music. You can dress up a bit, do drama, or things for the kids, walk round on stilts, chalk hop scotch on the footpath, jive and dance.
- If the spot opposite the Regent is already taken by another busker, I just go 50 yards towards the Square and set up there.
- If interested, just reply here. Maybe there could be a group of us, or take turns and yak etc. What I would really like is to make it so good that it becomes a 'scene' that always attracts a crowd socializing. When I lived in Montreal and Toronto, there were scenes like that, 'great fun.
- The picture is of a couple of my friends who play didgeridoo and some kids who stopped on Broadway.
Poll: If we want to reduce speeding, what do you think actually changes driver behaviour? 🛻🚨🚓
In the Post's article on speeding penalties, the question is asked whether speeding fines are truly about road safety, or are they just a way to boost revenue for the Crown?
What do you think? Should speeding motorists receive speeding fines or demerit points?
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37.6% The sting of a fine (Money talks!)
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62.4% The threat of demerit points (Nobody wants to lose their license!)
Scam Alert: Bank cold calls
ASB is warning customers about reports of cold calls from scammers claiming to be from ASB. These scammers are trying to obtain personal information, including usernames, dates of birth, and verification codes sent to your mobile phone.
🛡️ The "Caller Check" Test
If you get a call from someone claiming to be from ASB and you’re unsure, just ask them for a Caller Check. You will then be able to verify the call through the app.
Remember, banks will:
❌ Never ask for your banking passwords, PINs, or verification codes
❌ Never need to know your full credit card number – especially the CVC
❌ Never ask you to download software or remotely access your device
❌ Never ask you to purchase gift cards or transfer funds.
If you have received a phone call and think your account has been compromised, call ASB on 0800 ASB FRAUD (0800 272 372), or visit your local branch.
SLASH BESIDE THE TRACK UP TO TRIG
I question the wisdom and the morality of an industry which creates so much waste, waste which is also a cause of widespread and devastating damage. So, I searched the internet for potential uses of slash. It was easy to find.
I recommend a visit to nzbioforestry.co.nz. I quote from the website:
OUR SOLUTION:
NZ Bio Forestry proposes to develop a sustainable renewable forestry model that increases the economic value of the NZ- Aotearoa forestry sector, simply by integrating bio-technologies augmenting the forestry, wood manufacturing, and petrochemistry industries into one model.
Specifically, our strategy is to utilise the whole tree and convert the tree’s sugars into bioenergy, biomaterials, and biochemicals. This means using slash, off cuts, pruning, and wood waste to produce biofuel via bio pellets and biochemicals. It means optimising logs through the whole process….logging, manufacturing freighting, and refining process to serve the many Asia-Pacific markets with high-value products….not just exporting raw logs to one or two large dominant markets! (End of quote)
NZ Bio Forestry then contrasts the financial return from the present exports of raw logs with the potential return from utilising the WHOLE TREE.
In US dollars, the return from exporting logs is between $50 - $140 per log.
Using the whole tree including the slash and other waste for wood processing would return $200 - $800 per tree, and,
Using the bio-refinery process to convert the wood waste into fossil-free biochemicals would return $2,500 - $11,200 per tree.
I can’t help but conclude that our current focus on exporting logs is a pitiful failure of industry and government policy compared with the potential benefits of processing THE WHOLE TREE. And to complete the argument, this not just theory. In Scandinavia, SCA, which owns Europe’s largest private forest with 2.7 million hectares, has built a well-invested value chain that maximises the value of each individual tree and all of the forestry’s resources.
A SUMMARY OF POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS:
Wood Pellets and Chips: Slash can be collected, dried, and processed into hog fuel or wood pellets for use in industrial boilers, as a replacement for coal, to generate heat and electricity.
Biofuel Production: Research is underway to convert forest residues into marine biofuel to help decarbonize the shipping sector.
Gasification: Advanced, small-scale, on-site processing plants can turn slash into renewable energy products like bio-oil, ethanol, and hydrogen.
Biochemicals: Specialized refineries can convert woody waste into sustainable alternatives to plastics, chemicals, and industrial products.
WAKE UP Aotearoa, New Zealand!!!
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